Lisa Wilkinson was “devastated” and “sorry” for Wilko’s collapse in August and, unlike some former bosses of bust companies who have appeared before business select committees, tried to answer the MPs’ questions. What the former long-serving chair of the company did not do, however, was volunteer to return a penny of dividends paid to the Wilkinson family in recent years. When the shortfall in the pension fund is a reported £50m, that was a mistake.
Let’s be clear, there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Wilkinson or any directors of Wilko. Kevin Hollinrake, minister in the business department, appearing afterwards, was clear that the Insolvency Service and the Pensions Regulator have found no evidence of director misconduct. That is not surprising because the three-hour committee session really revealed old-fashioned boardroom incompetence, which is a very different thing.
