THE high street household and garden retailer WILKO has struggled to find a buyer and has now collapsed into administration after failing to secure a rescue deal. The company was founded in 1030 and is still owned by the Wilkinson family. On Wednesday, the firm announced that it had suspended home deliveries, a service that had stayed running throughout World War 2, after being started in the early 1940s. This was a warning sign of what was to follow. Currently, the firm has grown from its Leicester roots to have 400 stores all over the UK, employing around 12,000 staff. This announcement now puts those shops and jobs at risk. Currently, the Administrators, PwC, have said that they will continue to look for a buyer for all or part of the group. They hope to keep the stores open as they continue to try to find a buyer, but should this fail inevitable will happen, with store closures and redundancies. For now, the Administrators have said that in the short term, there will be no immediate job losses, and staff will continue to be paid. Let's hope this firm will not become another Woolworths, and this British company can be saved. The particularly difficult economic climate within the UK retail industry, as consumer behaviour, and the intense pressure due to increasing costs globally, is leading to significant economic harm for our high streets. Currently, Wilko is becoming the biggest High Street casualty this year, but warning signs are, that they will not be the last.