British homeware and household goods discount retailer Wilko has announced that it has fallen into administration, putting its 400 stores and 12,500 jobs in danger if a buyer can’t be found.
Commenting on this development, Factor Risk Management director and co-founder, Tom Davey, said: “The predicted perfect storm of rising prices coupled with higher mortgage rates has finally hit UK consumers’ spending power, with nasty knock-on effects for the retail industry.
“After a torrid period during the pandemic, and with continued supply issues and rising interest rates, many retailers will find the conditions impossible to survive in their current guise and we expect to see an increasing number of high profile companies restructuring and facing fire sales as a result of this.
“For companies such as Wilko, cheap capital has disappeared and this has led to a noticeable rise in both corporate and personal insolvencies over the past year. These figures are only likely to worsen.
“The cost of managing inflation will be paid for by individuals and struggling corporates who have survived on cheap credit, and it speaks to the economic climate that has prevailed for the last 15 years that a return to historically more normal interest rates is having, and will continue to have, such a damaging effect on individuals and the high street in particular.”
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