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HMV closes with loss of seven jobs

GUERNSEY’S HMV branch is among 27 stores nationwide that have closed with immediate effect.

 (Picture by Adrian Miller, 23814438)
(Picture by Adrian Miller, 23814438) / not for sale

It follows the entertainment chain’s sale to Canadian retailer Sunrise Records and Entertainment Limited.

The list also includes the flagship branch in London’s Oxford Street, Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Westfield London.

A staff member at the Guernsey branch said a meeting at 11.30am yesterday confirmed that seven staff would have their contracts terminated immediately and the shop was closing.

‘Seven of us were there. By the looks of it it’s completely closing down 27 stores, unprofitable ones. We do get redundancy pay as well so they are honouring that, thankfully,’ the staff member said.

Vaughan Davies, owner of Vinyl Vaughan’s, believed Guernsey would miss having somewhere like HMV.

‘It’s always sad to hear that a shop is closing and they certainly had a place in the market,’ he said.

‘I didn’t see them as competition, what they sell is different.’

Mr Davies suggested that part of the trouble with Guernsey’s branch was the model of the business, which had needed refreshing.

‘They were still pushing the sale of DVDs, but people don’t really buy those like they used to any more, and HMV never took the VAT off their products in Guernsey.’

He said that this, combined with the high cost of rent, would have been a problem.

Mr Davies said his shop in Fountain Street, which has been open for two years and specialises in selling both old and new vinyl records as well as CDs, is still somewhere islanders can go to purchase their music.

He does not see digital retailers such as Amazon music and Spotify as an issue.

‘I’m happy to work with them, it’s a different format.

‘The thing is if you buy something through that format, you’ve got nothing to show for it.

‘Last year in the UK three million vinyls were sold, not including second hand sales. People have gone back to that, they like to have them and they do serve a purpose,’ he said.

HMV ‘s branch in the Markets was opened by former Busted bassist and singer Matt Willis October 2006.

HMV shop closures have resulted in 455 redundancies across the country.

A spokesman for administrator KPMG said ‘The administrators are providing those members of staff with support, including assisting with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.’

Despite the closures almost 1,500 HMV employee jobs have been secured.

Sunrise, owned by Doug Putman, will acquire 100 stores across the UK with 1,487 store and head office employees being transferred as part of the transaction.

KPMG will retain a further 122 employees at warehouses to assist in winding down operations.

Will Wright, Neil Gostelow and David Pike, from KPMG’s restructuring practice, were appointed joint administrators in December.

Mr Wright said they were pleased to confirm the sale which, after a complex process, secures the continued trading of the majority of the business.

‘Our immediate concern is now to support those employees that have unfortunately been made redundant,’ he said.

Mr Gostelow said they were grateful for the support of all key stakeholders including the suppliers whose support throughout the process had been key in securing the sale.

Mr Putman said the company was delighted to acquire the most iconic music and entertainment business in the UK and to add nearly 1,500 employees to their team.

‘By catering to music and entertainment lovers, we are incredibly excited about the opportunity to engage customers with a diverse range of physical format content and replicate our success in Canada.

‘We know the physical media business is here to stay and we greatly appreciate all the support from the suppliers, landlords, employees and, most importantly, our customers,’ he said.

The stores will continue to trade as HMV, with four continuing to trade as Fopp.

HMV was the first high street casualty after the Christmas period and the second time the business has collapsed in recent years – it filed for administration in 2013.

As well as HMV, Poundworld, Toys’R’Us and Maplin all closed down following last year’s difficult trading.

Larger companies such as M&S and Debenhams have also been affected by recent tough trading and have announced plans to close hundreds of stores.

Profit warnings have also been issued by other companies including Superdry, Carpetright and Card Factory.

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