Boss of Wilko says sorry for collapse...then blames Truss

THE granddaughter of Wilko's apologised to founder yesterday 12,000 staff who lost their jobs in the store's collapse, while admitting her family picked up millions of pounds.

- Graham Hiscott

Quizzed over why the homewares chain failed, Lisa Wilkinson cited factors including the mini-Budget during last year's brief reign as Prime Minister by Liz Truss, inset below.

The defunct firm's chairwoman claimed that then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's measures significantly increased the interest rate on a loan that Wilko was trying to secure from an Australian financial group.

Ms Wilkinson went on: "We were about to enter into secured lending arrangements with Macquarie...at that point the interest terms on that loan were hiked massively and that became infeasible. So, that was a contributor."

She said she was "devastated" by Wilko's demise but, appearing emotional before MPs, added: "I will be thanking my team members and my customers to my dying day."

Ms Wilkinson was accused at the Commons Business and Trade Committee of making "significant management mistakes" that led to empty shelves and a waste of money.

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