A MAJOR Shipley store will close its doors next month, it has been confirmed.

Wilko, located on Kirkgate, is one of 15 of the high street chain's branches which will be shutting its doors for good.

The High Street chain has confirmed that it will be closing its Shipley store in February 2022. Wilko says it has briefed its team members in Shipley of the decision to close the store at the end of its lease in February unless more favourable terms can be agreed with landlords.

A Wilko spokesman said: “We have been looking at our options, but the reality is that we have been unable to reach an agreement with the landlord that makes this store commercially viable.

Wilko is planning to close 15 stores across the UK in what GMB Union describes as ‘another nail in the High Street’s coffin’.

A total of 330 jobs, 11 in Shipley, will be lost as the shops shut over the next 12 months, the GMB union says today.

The affected stores are Shipley, Bournemouth, Stockton, The Fort, Scunthorpe, Narborough Road, Grantham, Redditch, Rotherham, Skegness, Sutton, Coldfield, Orpington, Edmonton Green, Llanelli, Merthyr Tydfil and Cleethorpes.

Wilko has another store in the Bradford district, at the Rawson Quarter in Bradford city centre.

Roger Jenkins, GMB National Officer, said: "These closures are devastating for Wilko workers and the communities who use them.

“It’s yet another nail in the High Street’s coffin and GMB calls on councils and landlords to review commercial leases and offer lower rents.

“Empty high streets and shopping centres are in no one’s interest and but with 400 shops a week closing, this is inevitable - unless the costs of premises can be reduced.

“GMB will now meet with Wilko members to discuss our next steps.”

Jerome Saint-Marc, wilko CEO, said: “Our history is steeped in serving our customers and communities going back to 1930 but there’s no denying the way people shop with us and where they want to shop with us is changing. "As a business we’re evolving and this includes working with landlords for more favourable terms, as well as looking at locations and store formats.

"We’ll continue to pull together to make our business better to secure the future of over 16,000 team members.

“We’ll be doing everything we can to support our affected team members who will be offered any available positions in nearby stores. We apologise to customers but will continue to offer them everything they need in nearby stores or via wilko.com.”