GMB Union, which is representing Wilko workers, is calling for former boss Lisa Wilkinson to stand in front of MPs to justify why her family, which founded the collapsed discount retailer in 1930, received around £100 million in dividends despite the company’s pension fund suffering a substantial deficit.
Nadine Houghton, national officer at GMB, urged the business and trade committee to summon Wilkinson to provide evidence concerning the £56 million hole in Wilko's pension fund and demands that Wilkinson, who extracted £77 million from the company in the past decade, explain how she intends to address this deficit.
Defending the substantial payouts during years of losses by referring to the company's £100 million in assets and a £58 million healthy bank balance at the time, Wilkinson has been met by critics who argue that this money could have been used to shore up the pension scheme.
Covering around 2,000 members and amounting to £76 million on a buyout basis, the scheme is set to recover £20 million from the sale of a distribution centre and other freehold properties.
Experts suggest that the scheme is likely to enter an assessment process by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), where trustees will continue to pay pensioners, but future retirees may only receive 90% of their promised pensions, and all members may lose some of the inflation protection they were entitled to.
The PPF said: “Scheme members can be reassured their benefits are protected to at least PPF levels.”
Independent pensions consultant John Ralfe said: “If Wilko has a pension deficit, on a strict “buyout” basis after the £20 million security has been paid, and the scheme has received its share of the liquidation proceeds, there is no question the pensions regulator will go after the Wilkinson family, to claw back some of the dividends paid.”