The figures were released as the last Wilko stores closed their doors for the final time, costing 12,500 workers their jobs after the chain collapsed. GMB on Monday told the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool that more retail jobs will be lost unless economic reforms are made.  

And there are areas in which the union is in agreement with retail bosses. Delegates are due to debate a GMB motion that calls for the UK’s “archaic” system of business rates to be replaced, alongside better protections for workers who are made redundant.With the final hundred Wilko stores closing, “the taxpayer is expected to pick up the more than £25 million cost of making [its] workers redundant”, the release noted. The union also wants tougher sentences when retail workers experience violence and other abuse. Andy Prendergast, GMB National Secretary, said: “High street retail is at the heart of our communities, but customers and workers are denied a fair deal. These shocking figures are a wake-up call that Wilko was not the first, and it will not be the last. “Better support for communities and workers who face redundancy is urgently needed. That’s why GMB is calling on the Labour Party to enact its pledge to replace the business rates system, strengthen redundancy rights, and establish minimum ownership requirements for critical national retailers. Otherwise, the high street faces terminal decline.”