Hucknall and Bulwell Wilkos avoid the axe as neither on list of 52 stores to close next week

Despite ongoing attempts to resuce the High Street chain, Wilko has announced that 52 stores will close across the UK next week.

But neither Hucknall, nor Bulwell were on the list of stores facing the axe.

However, despite this initial piece of good news for staff at both stores, the long-term future still remains uncertain.

Discount retailer B&M has announced it will buy more than 50 Wilko stores – which are expected to be rebranded as B&M – but talks over a bigger rescue deal hang in the balance.

B&M is to buy up to 51 stores in a deal worth £13 million.

However, B&M has not confirmed which Wilko shops it has bought, or if it will save any jobs.

And the concern for Hucknall and Bulwell Wilko staff is that B&M already has a strong prescence in both towns and might not necessarily want to open another store in them.

News of the B&M deal came at the time time as news that another Wilko rescue deal, from HMV owner Doug Putman, which was thought to be nearing completion, has reportedly hit a stumbling block.

Putman’s potential rescue deal would save around 300 stores and approximately 8,000 jobs.

But the deal is under threat as big suppliers have demanded Wilko debt is repaid before supply lines are opened to the retailer.

Sources told national newspapers that the likes of Unilever and Procter & Gamble have also demanded upfront payment from Wilko to guarantee supply.

Concerns were also raised over the weekend that certain suppliers who had ceased shipping goods to Wilko stores might not be able to resume product shipments for another six weeks.

Even before the B&M deal, adminstrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) confirmed there will be another 299 jobs lost at two Wilko warehouses, plus a further 17 redundancies at its support centre.

This comes on top of 269 job losses already announced at the Wilko support centre, plus 14 other redundancies at a subsidiary firm.

Edward Williams, joint administrator at PwC, told the BBC the closures and job losses were ‘necessary’ due to lack of buyers for the whole business.

He added: "The loss of these stores will be felt not only by the team members who served them with such dedication, including through the uncertainty of recent weeks, but also the communities which they have been a part of.”

PwC said ‘active discussions with parties interested in buying parts of the business’ were continuing and that it was ‘committed to preserving as many jobs as possible’.

But it warned that it was possible that ‘further store closures may regrettably be necessary’.

Wilko has faced strong competition from rivals, including B&M, Poundland and Home Bargains, in recent times as the high cost of living has pushed shoppers to seek out bargains.

Last month, it collapsed into administration, putting 12,500 jobs at risk.

Posting on its website, the GMB Union, said: “GMB are working round the clock to see if we can get the significant offer over the line and are doing everything we can to save as many of your jobs as possible.”