Beloved British bargain retailer B&M is set to sweep up 51 of the soon-to-be-vacated Wilko shops around the UK after the business went into administration earlier this month.
Equally popular around the country, 400 Wilkos stores are shutting as we speak after PwC were appointed as administrators and the company began its insolvency process on 10 August and now, in a late effort to snap up locations at a lower price, B&M have reportedly scored a £13 million deal.
Not unlike Wilkos, B&M is loved by shoppers not only for its affordable prices but for its wild range of items — where else can you buy wallpaper, stationery, KitKats, pick-and-mix, a fluffy rug and a nice new kettle all under one roof?
While various other brands such as Poundland, Home Bargains and The Range are also looking to take over some of the other spaces, B&M is set to become the first to pick up the pieces and aid their own expansion around the UK.
Credit: B&M/Greg MacveanCredit: Manchester Arndale
As a last-minute buyer could not be found, all of Wilko’s 400 units will eventually be taken over by other outlets and with roughly 12,500 jobs on the line, employees are now desperately waiting to see if they will be thrown a lifeline.
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The deal itself was made by Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman, the man responsible for rescuing HMV and owner of Toys R Us back in his home country, who hopes to save as many as 300 Wilko stores in the coming weeks.
However, the long-term takeover is facing the obstacle of numerous Wilko suppliers like Unilever and Procter & Gamble wanting their debts repaid before continuing to supply products.
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Other suppliers have already cancelled shipments since the chain went into administration and aren’t expected to resume for a number of weeks and with jobs already being cut at the company’s headquarters and warehouses this week, many people have already parted ways with Wilko.
All that being said, the brand established all the way back in 1930 raked in an annual turnover of approximately £1.2bn and it’s safe to those vying for the remaining stores will be plugging a significant and profitable hole in the UK shopping scene.
As a fellow affordable retailer that sells everything from groceries to hardware, furniture, electronics and more, it feels fitting for B&Ms (Billington & Mayman) to take up so many Wilkos sites. The full list of locations is yet to be revealed and it remains to be seen what other brands will pop in their place too.
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Meanwhile, companies like Aldi are telling those facing the chop to get in touch with them about potential new employment.
NHS to begin offering new one-minute jab to women with ‘aggressive’ form of cancer
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is set to begin offering new immunotherapy for hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer across the country.
Pembrolizumab – which experts have described as being able to ‘take the handbrake off’ the body’s immune system to target cancer – will now be presented as a new treatment option for women in England with locally-advanced cervical cancer, which means the cancer has grown beyond the cervix to regions such as the pelvic wall, but not yet spread further around the body.
Trials found that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemoradiotherapy helped keep cancer ‘at bay’ for longer, and improved survival rates overall.
Two years after starting the treatment, nearly seven in 10 patients (68%) were still living without their cancer progressing, compared with 57% for those receiving chemoradiotherapy alone, according to NHS figures.
The trial also found that 82.6% of patients were still alive three years after treatment with pembrolizumab and chemoradiotherapy, compared with 74.8% with chemoradiotherapy alone.
Hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer are to be offered a new immunotherapy treatment.
It marks one of the biggest improvements in treatment for the disease in years, and could help more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long term.
The drug is either given every three or siz weeks via an infusion, or as a ‘one-minute’ injection, alongside chemoradiotherapy.
The NHS estimates around 550 patients in England will be eligible for the treatment – which has been approved this week by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – over the next two years.
Patients will now receive fast-tracked access, funded by NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund.
“This is great news for women facing a diagnosis of aggressive cervical cancer, and represents one of the biggest improvements in treatment for this disease in recent years,” commented Professor Peter Johnson, who is the NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer.
“Combining this immunotherapy with existing treatment has had very positive effect for patients in trials, helping the body’s immune system to target cancer more effectively.
“We’re delighted it will be available for patients on the NHS as it could help hundreds more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long-term.”
Featured Image – NappyStudio (via Unsplash)
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Andy Burnham wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster
Emily Sergeant
Andy Burnham has set out his vision for the country if he is to become Prime Minister.
In case you need brining up to speed first, after it was announced earlier this month that Andy Burnham had clinched the victory in the crucial Makerfield by-election, winning 24,927 votes (54.8% vote share) and a majority of 9,231, he then went onto announce his intention to run for Labour Party leader, and therefore Prime Minister, after Keir Starmer confirmed he would be stepping down.
And this week, Mr Burnham has now delivered his first speech as part of his ongoing campaign, addressing how he plans to give the country a ‘new direction’.
Burnham says that he wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster.
A lot has been discussed and reported on when it comes to Burnham’s intentions to create a so-called Number 10 North here in Manchester, but what exactly does it mean to take the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to the capital?
“The Greater Manchester way is based on strong partnership between all sectors: public, private, community, voluntary, academic, faith, and our trade unions,” Burnham said in his speech.
He continued: “When I started as Mayor in 2017, we set about building a new approach, a new politics based on the exact opposite of the Westminster approach.
“Place-first, not party-first. Problem-solving, not point-scoring. Long-term, not short-term.
“A decade on, it’s incredible how much we’ve been able to achieve by working together instead of fighting against one another.”
Burnham said he feels the truth is that the country spends ‘too much time arguing and not enough time doing’ and that for Britain to get back where it ‘should be’, his Government would ask everyone to ‘face the same way’ and then ‘pull in that same direction together’.
He declared that No 10 North will be the ‘nerve centre’ for a rewired Britain.
“It will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK,” he concluded. “It will coordinate all parts of Government, at national and local level, to agree a long-term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.”
Danny Jones -
5th September 2023 
