Poundland is set to re-open a further 10 former Wilko stores this weekend under their brand. 

Wilko entered administration last month leaving all 400 stores and 12,500 employees at risk. 

Administrators at PwC were forced to sell off Wilko’s assets after failing to secure a rescue deal for the whole business.

While more than 250 Wilko stores have or will close there are a number of sites across the UK that have been saved and will relaunched under a new high street brand. 

The Northern Echo: More than 250 Wilko stores have already closed in the UK since the retailer entered administration back in August.More than 250 Wilko stores have already closed in the UK since the retailer entered administration back in August. (Image: PA)

Fellow high street retailer B&M bought 51 Wilko stores at the beginning of September in a deal thought to be worth around £13 million. 

While The Range agreed to a deal to buy Wilko’s brand for around £5 million.

Poundland owner Pepco also agreed on a deal earlier this month to buy 71 Wilko stores from administrator PwC following the collapse of the high street chain.

This weekend will be the second round of re-openings after a further 10 ex-Wilko sites were rebranded and opened as Poundland stores last Saturday (September 30).

Managing director of Poundland, Austin Cooke, said: “Our people make Poundland special and last week they did an amazing job to turn ex-Wilko stores into brand new Poundlands in just six days – the size and scale of what they’ve achieved has been nothing short of phenomenal.

“But they worked hard because we meant what we said about moving quickly to create jobs for Wilko colleagues.

“And that’s why we’ll pull out all the stops to repeat that feat and open another 10 stores this weekend.

“I know from meeting our new colleagues from Wilko, how delighted they were to welcome customers old and new back to their store last weekend – and that’s inspiring us to keep the pace up and bring the amazing value we promise to more high streets this Saturday.”

The Wilko stores re-opening as Poundland

Poundland revealed it is set to re-open another 10 former Wilko stores under their brands on Saturday, October 7.

The 10 former Wilko sites, re-opening as Poundland stores on Saturday are: 

  • Melton Mowbray
  • Matlock
  • Chepstow
  • Nottingham
  • Worcester
  • Ellesmere Port
  • Brigg
  • Redruth
  • Ferndown
  • Pontypool

This comes just a week after 10 other Wilko stores re-opened under the Poundland brand.

The stores already re-opened as Poundlands are:

  • Broad Street, Chell Road, Stafford, Staffordshire, West Midlands
  • Pendle Rise Shopping Centre, Nelson, Lancashire
  • The Peel Centre, Great Portwood Street, Stockport, Greater Manchester
  • The Mall, Church Street, Eccles, Manchester
  • London Street, Southport, Merseyside
  • Lord Street, Leigh, Greater Manchester
  • East Street, Barking, London
  • High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire
  • Bede Precinct, Viking Centre, Jarrow, South Tyneside
  • The Broadway, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire

Poundland said it aims to open all the Wilko stores it bought by the end of 2023 before giving them all a full makeover in 2024 so they become “fully operational Poundlands”.

Poundland offers more than 200 jobs to ex-Wilko staff

Amid the re-opening of former Wilko stores, Poundland has also offered jobs to more than 200 former staff members from the collapsed retailer.

No workers were directly transferred to Poundland as part of the rescue deal, but Poundland had encouraged former Wilko staff to apply for roles and said it would “prioritise” them for positions at the stores.

On Tuesday (October 3), Poundland said it had made job offers to more than 200 former Wilko staff, with that “number increasing day-by-day”.

Final round of Wilko store closures taking place this week

Meanwhile, the final phase of Wilko closures will take place this week.

Wilko administrators PwC announced last week the final 111 stores will shut their doors for good in October.

There have already been 29 stores closed as of Tuesday with the rest set to close on Thursday (October 5) and Sunday (October 8).

The final Wilko stores set to close this week are:

Thursday, October 5

  • Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire
  • Tottenham Hale, Greater London
  • Worthing, West Sussex
  • Romford, Greater London
  • Selly Oak, Birmingham
  • Wembley, London
  • Birstall, West Yorkshire
  • Uxbridge, Greater London
  • Burton, Staffordshire
  • Lee Circle, Leicester, Leicestershire
  • West Ealing, London
  • Blackburn, Lancashire
  • Bexleyheath, Greater London
  • The Beacon Eastbourne, East Sussex
  • Weymouth, Dorset
  • Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire
  • Beaumont Leys, Leicester, Leicestershire
  • Hinckley, Leicestershire
  • Livingston, Scotland
  • Chelmsford, Essex
  • Riverside Shopping Centre, Northampton, East Midlands
  • Sittingbourne, Kent
  • Stourbridge, West Midlands
  • Manchester, Greater Manchester
  • Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
  • Deepdale, Preston, Lancashire
  • Basingstoke, Hampshire
  • Clifton Moor, York, North Yorkshire
  • Burgess Hill, West Sussex
  • Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway
  • Harrow, London
  • Tooting, London
  • Telford, Shropshire
  • Ipswich, Suffolk
  • St James Retail Park, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
  • Nottingham, Midlands
  • Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
  • Bulwell, Nottinghamshire
  • Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
  • Frenchgate Shopping Centre, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
  • Clifton, Bristol

The Northern Echo: The final phase of Wilko closures will take place this week.The final phase of Wilko closures will take place this week. (Image: PA)

Sunday, October 8

  • Neath, Neath Port Talbot
  • Bromley, London
  • Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire
  • Cardiff, South Glamorgan
  • Selby, North Yorkshire
  • Arnold, Nottinghamshire
  • Portsmouth, Hampshire
  • Oswestry, Shropshire
  • Chester, Cheshire
  • Hucknall, Nottinghamshire
  • Ayr, South Ayrshire
  • Widnes, Cheshire
  • Horsham, West Sussex
  • Birkenhead, Merseyside
  • Kingston Centre, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
  • Parkgate, Rotherham, South Yorkshire
  • Perry Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands
  • Castleford, West Yorkshire
  • Porthmadog, Caernarfonshire
  • Brighouse, West Yorkshire
  • Chelmsley Wood, West Midlands
  • Swansea, Wales
  • Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
  • Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire
  • Silverlink, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear
  • Chesterfield, Derbyshire
  • Sutton, Surrey
  • Derby, Derbyshire
  • Scarborough, North Yorkshire
  • Crystal Peaks, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
  • Plymouth, Devon
  • Ely, Cambridgeshire
  • Loughborough, Leicestershire
  • Liverpool, Merseyside
  • Stratford, London
  • Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
  • Coventry, West Midlands
  • Sheffield, South Yorkshire
  • Exeter, Devon
  • Luton, Bedfordshire
  • Wood Green, London

The retailer’s Burnley store was also revealed in the initial round of closures early last month, but won't close until Thursday, November 14.

There have already been 163 Wilko stores closed over the past few months since the UK retailer entered administration back in August.