I was 12 hrs away from saving Wilko

'Suppliers blocked HMV boss bid'

- GRAHAM HISCOTT

HMV owner Doug Putman has revealed he came close to rescuing Wilko and saving up to 10,000 jobs.

But the Canadian tycoon said the move was scuppered by the homeware chain's big suppliers.

Wilko collapsed shortly after in August, with 12,500 staff axed. Mr Putman, 39, said: "We had a deal, I flew in to sign it.

We were 12 hours away.

"It would have been around 250 stores of the 325 that were left then. Around 9,000 or 10,000 jobs would have been saved."