The owner of HMV, Doug Putman, is understood to have been in talks with Wilko and administrators to save the retail firm, The Times has reported.

Putman, who owns Canadian retailer Sunrise Records and revived the music and games retailer, HMV, in 2019, has reportedly held talks, which if successful, could keep around half of the 400 Wilko stores in the UK and 3,000-4,000 of the retailer’s 12,000-strong workforce.

However, Wilko’s chief executive, Mark Jackson, has reportedly said that the deal is unlikely to happen, with an industry source stating that PwC, the administrators in this case, would ultimately decide to put Wilko into liquidation, as this would provide higher returns to creditors.

The retailer went into administration earlier this month, despite recording an annual turnover of £1.2bn. It has recently struggled with sharp losses and a cash shortage, leading it to borrow £40m from restricting specialist, Hilco, and has cut jobs, changed its leadership team and sold off a distribution centre.

A spokesperson for PwC said that they have been working "relentlessly" to sell the business and is in discussion with a number of parties in an attempt to secure a sale.

The PwC spokesperson added: "As administrators we're intent on achieving the best outcome for everyone involved while preserving as many jobs as possible and adhering to our statutory duty to act in the best interests of the creditors as a whole.

"It would be inappropriate to comment on individual bidders or interested parties at this stage in the process."

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