A deal from HMV to save 300 Wilko stores has fallen through, meaning all 400 stores across the UK will close this year - including Oakham.

All Wilko stores are expected to close by early October after the rescue deal to save the chain fell through.

GMB Union has said all the stores will shut, with redundancies looking "likely" for all 12,500 staff.

The union said administrators at PwC updated them on the situation this morning, 11 September 2023.

HMV's billionaire owner Doug Putman had tabled plans to rescue the vast majority of the discount retailer stores, but his bid was been pulled due to rising costs.

In a statement to The Sun, Mr Putman said: "It is with great disappointment that we can no longer continue in the purchase process for Wilko having worked with administrators and suppliers over several weeks to seek a viable way to rescue it as a going concern."

Last week Oakham's Wilko was not included in a list of 52 stores set to close.

But now the union has announced that all 400 stores nationwide as well as distribution centres will close within the coming few weeks.

Rival retailer B&M confirmed last week that it will spend £13 million on a further 51 Wilko branches - but it is expected they will not be run under the Wilko name. The stores expected to rebrand have yet to be confirmed.

Nadine Houghton, national officer at the GMB union, said: "Wilko was far more than a brand, a retailer or the products it sold, it was the thousands of loyal team members now facing an uncertain future.

"Wilko may have ceased genuinely being a family brand many years ago, but the staff kept the real family ethos of Wilko alive until the very end.

"It is the family that Wilko colleagues made for themselves that will be missed the most."