Wilko chair Lisa Wilkinson told MPs she is “devastated” for letting down staff, shoppers and suppliers following the retailer’s collapse.
Wilkinson and her fellow directors have come under fire after it was revealed £77m was paid out in dividends in the lead up to its administration.
She told the business and trade committee: “I don’t know how to put into words how sad I am that we have let down all our customers – all our team members, our suppliers, our advisers. Genuinely, I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“We have let each and every one of those people down with the insolvency that Wilko has done”.
The committee’s chair Liam Byrne responded: “Sorry was the one word I was looking for”.
Wilkinson said: “You can have the word sorry. Of course I’m sorry. I thought devastated covered it. I apologise.”
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The director blamed the fallout from last year’s mini budget during Liz Truss’ tenure as prime minister as one of the reasons behind Wilko’s collapse.
“We were about to enter into secured lending arrangements with Macquarie when the 2022 mini budget happened,” she explained.
“Literally we were in the midst of that, and at that point the interest terms on that loan were hiked massively and that became infeasible. So, that was a contributor.”
She also highlighted declining high streets and staying open during the Covid pandemic as factors that hit the business.
Wilko’s former CEO Mark Jackson agreed that retailer should have closed during the pandemic.
“I would’ve taken advantage and protected the business on the furlough scheme and the rents like 90% of other retailers,” he said.
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