The collapse of retail giant, Wilko, in September 2023, meant around 12,500 people across 400 stores were out of work across the UK. This included distribution centres in Worksop in Nottinghamshire and Newport in South Wales.
The Nottinghamshire town was hit hard as around 1200 were employed at the head office, shop and distribution centre.
Following the collapse, the local council, Citizens Advice Bassetlaw, and the Department for Work and Pensions, tried to help those affected by offering support on retraining, money advice, housing, and wellbeing.
As reported in the Worksop Guardian at the time, Councillor Jo White, deputy leader at Bassetlaw Council said: “This is devastating news for Wilko staff both in Bassetlaw and across the country. It’s another hammer blow to the Great British high street as we lose yet another much-loved retailer.”
The distribution centre closed its doors on September 15, 2023. Wilko was founded in the East Midlands in Leicester in 1930 when JK Wilkinson opened his first store.
It expanded across the Midlands and by the 1990s became one of Britain’s fastest-growing retailers. However, this year the company announced it was entering administration on August 10.
The district of Bassetlaw has a population of about 117,800, of which 2,195 were unemployed and claiming benefits in August before the distribution centre closed its doors, according to the BBC.
Following Wilko’s statement, Cllr James Naish, Leader of Bassetlaw District Council said “My thoughts are with everyone impacted by the devastating news about Wilko, especially the thousands of employees who have faithfully continued to serve the public in recent weeks in very difficult circumstances.”
Workers at Citizens Advice said their clients in the area had debts totalling £1.9m in April, which is a record level and an increase of £900,000 on the previous year.
The local council today is aiming to support local businesses, and opened a hub in Worksop town centre that provided facilities and support for up to 30 small and micro businesses. After welcoming its first tenants in December 2022, it has since become a base for 22 businesses including a number of sectors such as finance, transport and green technology.
The region once had a rich history of local coal mines that employed thousands of people and some of the mines were world firsts and also some of the deepest in Nottinghamshire.
The population of the town is just over 43,000 according to the 2021 Census. Worksop lies along the Chesterfield Canal and is close to the well-known Sherwood Forest (pictured). It is the largest town in Bassetlaw and is on the northern edge of the forest, and about 19 miles south-east of Sheffield, and roughly 30 miles from Nottingham.
The town is known as the “Gateway to the Dukeries” because of the four, obsolete, ducal sites in close proximity to each other towards the south of the town.
Clumber House, Thoresby Hall, Welbeck Abbey and Worksop Manor are all in the same area and there are fewer than 20 ducal sites in the whole of England.
Properties in the town have an overall average price of £188,805 over the last year. The majority of sales in Worksop during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £164,652. Detached properties sold for an average of £289,139, with terraced properties fetching £116,488, according to Rightmove.co.uk.
