TESCO has made a heartfelt gesture to thousands of Wilko staff after talks to save hundreds of the historic retailer's shops fell apart.
The supermarket giant is encouraging devastated Wilko workers to apply for 3,500 vacant roles across the UK.
It comes after Administrators at PwC said that all Wilko’s shops would close by early October, with 9,100 staff set to lose their jobs.
The company’s two warehouses will also close and most of the activities at its support centre will cease.
It said that “extensive efforts” had failed to produce a deal which would save any “significant part” of the Wilko operations.
But Tesco has jumped in to assure Wilko staff that they won't be left without a job.
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James Goodman, UK people director at Tesco said: “We know it must be a difficult time for those working at Wilko who are impacted by today’s news and who will be concerned about their future.
"We currently have 3,500 vacancies in Tesco stores across the UK and we are encouraging Wilko staff to take a look at the roles available in their area and get in touch with our team or apply online.”
In several gestures of good will, many other rival chains including are also offering job possibilities to distressed staff.
The Works, Hobbycraft and Dunelm have offered guaranteed interviews to all Wilko staff.
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Aldi has asked that any workers affected by the collapse of Wilko to get in touch about jobs.
It said that Aldi has more than 6,000 jobs available at the moment across its UK stores.
Home Bargains urged Wilko workers to "get in touch" or search for available opportunities near you on its careers page jobs.homebargains.co.uk.
When will Wilko start to close shops?
Wilko will shut 24 stores across the UK in the first phase of closures today.
Family-owned Wilko employed 12,500 staff and ran 400 shops before it hired administrators early last month after it came under pressure from weak consumer spending and debts to suppliers.
All its stores have continued to trade in recent weeks as it has worked through remaining stock, with the retailer discounting thousands of products.
Last week PwC confirmed that a number of shops would have to close for good after they were unable to secure a deal which would buy all of the firm’s shops.
It later confirmed that 52 shops were earmarked for closure after they were not targeted by potential buyers for parts of the retail business.
A further 28 shops will shut after trading on Thursday.
These closures will result in 1,016 redundancies, while administrators have also announced hundreds of other job cuts impacting warehouse and support centre staff.
A further 124 shops will shut for good next week as the process continues, with the final 222 stores all due to close by early October.
Administrators are still in talks over deals to sell store properties, but are shutting down sites after failing to find a suitor who would take them on as Wilko shops and retain their staff.
Your rights in redundancy
Companies can choose to cut their workforce and employees should understand their rights.
You are entitled to statutory redundancy pay, but only if you have worked at your job for two years or more.
The statutory rate is based on your age, weekly pay and number of years in the job.
You will get:
- Half a week’s pay for each full year you worked aged under 22
- One week’s pay for each full year you worked aged 22 or older, but under 41
- One and half week’s pay for each full year you worked while aged 41 or older.
But it's capped at 20 years and the max redundancy pay you can get is currently £16,320.
Some companies may offer to pay more than the statutory amount. This will usually be in your contract.
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Plus, you are still entitled to any pay you are owed for untaken holiday days at the end of your notice period.
The government has a calculator on its website to help you work out how much you are owed.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
You can also join our new Sun Money Facebook group to share stories and tips and engage with the consumer team and other group members.
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