Wilko’s administrators PwC are set to grill majority shareholder Lisa Wilkinson on the distribution of £77m in dividends to investors during the decade leading up to the discount retailer’s demise.
This inquiry comes amid growing demands for the Wilkinson family to address a £56m deficit in the pension funds of the company’s employees.
The Times reports that PwC will hold a review into the dividends paid out to the Wilkinson family and the retailer’s other directors as part of a broad investigation into company transactions in the years building up to its administration last month.
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According to the title, the administrators have already kicked off the process of gathering information from the company’s directors, including Wilkinson.
They plan to conduct interviews and scrutinize bank statements to investigate the factors contributing to the collapse and determine whether any legal actions should be pursued.
Wilkinson is the granddaughter of the company’s founder James Kempsey Wilkinson.
She took over the reigns as the boss of the retail chain back in 2014 when she bought her majority stake in Wilko from her cousin Karin Swann.
The family have faced backlash for paying £77m to themselves and former shareholders in the ten years before the retailer fell into administration.
This includes a £3m dividend last year, which was paid despite Wilko reporting losses of £39m, while £3.2m was also paid out in 2018 when the discounter recorded a £65m loss.
Wilkinson had previously justified the payouts made during the period of financial losses, citing the company’s £100m in assets and a robust bank balance of £58m.
The deficit in the scheme, which holds 2,000 members, is £76m on a buyout basis.
It is set to recover £20m from security it took over a distribution centre and other freehold properties.
Pension experts have said its likely that the scheme will now enter an assessment process for the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), and during that period, the trustees will continue to pay pensioners.
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7 Comments. Leave new
The discount distribution sale and lease back should be investigated. The business acumen was very bad.
How come people who pay in to a company pension always loose out,money always disappear,s ,but former owners never get any money taken back to cover the pension short full,disgusting.
The Statement of Affairs at Companies House also shows £151m of trade creditor losses with some businesses taking substantial hits.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00365335/filing-history
She and all her minions knew what thwy qas doing her willkinson her grandad set it off in 1930 and lisa willkinson comes along takes 77m out runs it in too the ground hope the greedt gets hsve too pay every penny bzck with intrest and the 56m with intrest too and are investigated big time
I worked for wilko for over 25 years. She ran that company to the ground. She should be made to pay back what she has taken. We used to get bonus every but she soon stopped that. OK for her though. She had delusions of grande. Didn’t agree she was a discount store.
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We all worked to pay our pension and now look.
I worked for wilko for 11 years before being made redundant in 2004 ( security officer). Although at my service time I could not fault the company. After that I did start to notice a significant change in the way it was going. From a friendly family low cost store to a don’t care expensive store. Lisa Wilkinson was known as the wicked witch when she visited Ellesmere Port store. Her and her little directors following behind her had no time to stop and speak to staff authful attitude no interest and responsible for the collapse of the company. Hope the government select committee gets involved and should freeze her assets now.
All I hear is how Lisa ‘ruined’ the company.
It was TONY that kept leasing silly backstreet units off the main course with dying footfall, it was TONY who didn’t want to pay out to be on retail parks where all the money is made nowadays. It was TONY that sat back and watched B&M and Home Bargains take market share from Wilkos year after year. I don’t think Lisa was a brilliant retailer but she’s also a victim of timing – by the time she got control the rot was set in and they couldn’t compete with B&M and The Range at any cost. Retailing is 100 times more difficult than when Tony departed She did well to keep it going.
As for this ‘£77’ most of it was from the year they reported £100m profit. 2012.