Wilks was initially trained as a solicitor, but his wife Kathleen Edith was a daughter of William Hillman, founder of the Hillman Motor Car Company, and so he became a joint manager in 1921 on the death of his father in law.
Wilks původně vystudoval jako advokát, ale jeho manželka Kathleen Edith byla dcerou Williama Hillmana, zakladatele známé automobilky Hillman Motor Car Company, a tak se stal v roce 1921 po jeho smrti spoluvlastníkem společnosti po boku své ženy.