Such fears have been heightened by the lack of any bidder for Wilko in its entirety. Administrator PwC said it is “therefore likely that there will be redundancies and store closures”. However, at the time of writing, it has emerged that there has been a surprise bid from HMV tycoon Doug Putman, who would take about 200 stores and continue to trade under the Wilko name.

Barring such an outcome, the collapse of Wilko is terrible news for Wilko employees and for towns where the retailer’s presence will be desperately missed. It does not mean, though, that high streets in general are doomed.