Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, comments on Wilko and the future for British high street retailers:
“For thousands of Wilko workers news that Poundland is to snap up 71 stores from the collapsed retail network will be of some comfort.
“The switch over won’t be seamless and there’s no guarantee each worker walking out of one of those Wilko doors will walk back into the same store once it’s been re-branded, but it’s better news than they woke up with just this morning.
“Retail workers have been hard to come by and even though vacancy numbers have fallen back considerably from where they were only a year ago, it’s clear labour is still at a premium and the likes of Aldi and Dunelm have acted quickly to try and woo those workers to their own estates.
“Watching shutters come down for the last time at 24 Wilko stores today has been strangely moving.
“Rather like Woolworths before it, Wilko has been a fixture of the retail landscape for so long it’s hard to process that its distinctive red and white signs will soon be relegated to the history books. Its departure will leave more scars and more holes on decaying high streets that are unlikely to be filled quickly.
“How do you solve a problem like Britain’s bricks and mortar retail decline?
“Dame Sharon White has called for a royal commission to seek out the best and brightest ideas from around the world, to figure out the exact blend of magic ingredients needed to tempt people off their sofas and help retailers and hospitality businesses thrive.
“There have been other attempts to figure out what the future should look like, but many of our town and city centres have crumbling corners that will require an awful lot of money to save.
“And one size won’t fit all. What works in Wandsworth might not appeal to the people of Wakefield and the answer won’t be as simple as mixing up retail and leisure businesses and expecting people to turn up.
“It has to start with the answer. What is it we who live in a town actually want from town centres?
“Some changes will be as simple as offering free parking and simplifying terrifying one-way systems that make it impossible for drivers to get to where they’re going without a great deal of head scratching.
“Other changes will require a holistic approach that starts at the drawing board. But that kind of town centre planning is almost impossible amid the tangle of existing infrastructure that’s sprung up over centuries.”
