As shoppers emptied the shelves of their dwindling goods in Wilko stores across the land, the race was hotting up for a buyer for the ailing DIY chain.
Wilko, with its 400 stores and 12,000 workers, collapsed last week after 93-years of trading and is up for sale this week. The deadline for a new buyer is August 16, according to administrator PwC.
Insolvency helps
The insolvency helps the sale. If Wilko was a going concern, buyers would have to take on all leases and debts. Insolvency means buyers can pick and choose which bits of the business they want.
A handful of high street names are in the mix including Poundland; the Range; Home Bargains and B&M.
The emerging favourite
The latter emerged as the favourite this week. B&M is well-positioned to take advantage of Wilko’s network of stores and market share. An investor note by Deutsche Bank forecast as much as a £200 million sales boost.
Billionaire brothers Simon and Bobby Arora bought B&M when it was based in Blackpool and had a struggling chain of 21 stores across the north.
A store chain now worth £5 billion
They built it up into a FTSE 100 company with 650 stores worth more than £5 billion. It thrived through COVID lockdown as it was designated as an essential supplier meaning it was able to stay open.
The Arora brothers live next door to each other in Altrincham, near Manchester. They cut their business teeth by supplying cheap homeware goods to high street stores with a wholesale company called Orient Sourcing they sold for more than £30 million.
Father also an entrepreneur
The brothers grew up in Sale, Manchester. Their father, also an entrepreneur, emigrated to the UK from New Delhi in the 1960s with £10 in his pocket and set up a number of companies.
Simon studied law at Cambridge and spent time working in the City of London as a management consultant with McKinsey.
His brother Bobby went straight into the family cash-and-carry company when he left school.
If the administrators accept the Wilko bid this week, the Arora family may have only just begun on the British retail scene.
