By Edward Devlin2021-05-25T15:58:00+01:00
Wilko revenues have slumped by £107m despite remaining open throughout lockdown as an “essential” retailer as the pandemic saw shoppers disappear from the high street, newly filed accounts at Companies House revealed.
Sales fell 7.3% to £1.4bn in the year ended 30 January 2021, with like-for-like figures down 7.7%, according to the accounts. It is the third consecutive year the top line at the retail chain has declined, having fallen from £1.6bn in 2017/18.
The group, which celebrated its 90th year on the high street in 2020, blamed the “unprecedented challenges” of Covid for the drop last year as footfall at its high street and shopping centres stores, which make up the bulk of the 414-strong estate, registered declines of more than 40% after the March 2020 lockdown to the end of the financial year.