HMV calls in administrators
9:50am Tuesday 15th January 2013 in News
HMV calls in administrators
AILING music chain HMV has lost its battle for survival in a devastating blow for the British high street and more than 4,000 staff.
The appointment of Deloitte as administrator to the 92-year-old business comes after the failures of Jessops and Comet caused the closure of 422 stores and loss of more than 8,000 jobs.
HMV's 238 outlets including the Bolton branch on Exchange Street and the one inside the Mill Gate Shopping Centre, Bury, will remain open while Deloitte attempts to find a buyer for some or all of the business, although it is likely that there will be widespread store closures as a result of the collapse.
The company's administration also means that vouchers and gift cards, many of which were given as Christmas presents, will be worthless.
Squeezed by internet retailers and supermarkets, whose scale has enabled them to offer CDs and DVDs at cheaper prices, HMV's boss Trevor Moore warned before Christmas that the entertainment group was in trouble. Mr Moore said the group would fail to meet expectations for the year to April and that it would breach the terms of its loan agreements later this month.
Suppliers including Universal Music came to HMV's rescue in January 2011 with a deal which helped the retailer shed some of its huge debt pile. But according to the Financial Times, they balked at a request last week from HMV for about £300 million in additional financing to pay off its bank debt and fund an overhaul of the company's business model.
HMV sought to diversify into live venues and consumer electronics and was forced to sell off several parts of its business, including the Waterstones book retailer, to reduce its debt pile, while closing loss-making stores.
But Neil Saunders, managing director of retail consultancy Conlumino, said the collapse of HMV was inevitable.
He added: "While many failures of recent times have been, at least in part, driven by the economy, HMV's demise is a structural failure. In the digital era where 73.4% of music and film are downloaded or bought online, HMV's business model has simply become increasingly irrelevant and unsustainable."
Back in May last year, when former boss Simon Fox was still in charge, the group said it was looking for pre-tax profits of at least £10 million for the 2012/13 financial year. His replacement joined the group from camera chain Jessops, which went into administration last week at the cost of 1,370 jobs across its 187 stores.
Comments(20)
M J P Smith
says...
10:21am Tue 15 Jan 13
M J P Smith
says...
10:21am Tue 15 Jan 13
Rememberscarborough
says...
11:29am Tue 15 Jan 13
VictoriaJane87
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12:17pm Tue 15 Jan 13
Its not right that people should their money with gift cards. That should be the first thing to sort out.
macauley
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1:08pm Tue 15 Jan 13
boltonnut
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2:13pm Tue 15 Jan 13
boltonnut
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2:13pm Tue 15 Jan 13
melloj1
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2:35pm Tue 15 Jan 13
M J P Smith wrote:CD's might be 'old hat' but it is still the only medium where you get full uncompressed quality audio. If we are going to lose CD's then we need to lose MP3 too. There is no need for MP3 any longer, hard drives are now big enough to hold enough songs without compressing music to MP3.
From a nostalgic point of view, I'll be sorry to see HMV close.When I was a teenager that shop was always my first port of call upon arriving in town. However, I've considered the store over priced and outdated for sometime. CD's are "old hat" technology, and no matter what is recorded on them should cost no more than a few Pounds. I'm aware that piracy has affected he music industry, but that in my opinion is a direct result of the afore mention over pricing. Perhaps HMV Should have reviewed their business model some time ago, and the High Street wouldn't be about to lose another once great chain.
As for HMV, if it goes there will now be nowhere in town to buy CD's and DVD's. WHsmiths have stopped selling them.
M J P Smith
says...
2:53pm Tue 15 Jan 13
melloj1 wrote:Where in my comment does it suggest "losing CD's"? I'm merely pointing out that as a medium of nearly twenty five years old, they should not be as expensive as they are. Magazines and newspapers give them away, but HMV expect us to pay through the nose for them.
M J P Smith wrote:CD's might be 'old hat' but it is still the only medium where you get full uncompressed quality audio. If we are going to lose CD's then we need to lose MP3 too. There is no need for MP3 any longer, hard drives are now big enough to hold enough songs without compressing music to MP3.
From a nostalgic point of view, I'll be sorry to see HMV close.When I was a teenager that shop was always my first port of call upon arriving in town. However, I've considered the store over priced and outdated for sometime. CD's are "old hat" technology, and no matter what is recorded on them should cost no more than a few Pounds. I'm aware that piracy has affected he music industry, but that in my opinion is a direct result of the afore mention over pricing. Perhaps HMV Should have reviewed their business model some time ago, and the High Street wouldn't be about to lose another once great chain.
As for HMV, if it goes there will now be nowhere in town to buy CD's and DVD's. WHsmiths have stopped selling them.
M J P Smith
says...
3:15pm Tue 15 Jan 13
M J P Smith wrote:I'll correct myself, before anyone else seeks the pleasure. CD's have been commercially available since 1982, that obviously makes them a medium of over thirty years old. y
melloj1 wrote:Where in my comment does it suggest "losing CD's"? I'm merely pointing out that as a medium of nearly twenty five years old, they should not be as expensive as they are. Magazines and newspapers give them away, but HMV expect us to pay through the nose for them.
M J P Smith wrote:CD's might be 'old hat' but it is still the only medium where you get full uncompressed quality audio. If we are going to lose CD's then we need to lose MP3 too. There is no need for MP3 any longer, hard drives are now big enough to hold enough songs without compressing music to MP3.
From a nostalgic point of view, I'll be sorry to see HMV close.When I was a teenager that shop was always my first port of call upon arriving in town. However, I've considered the store over priced and outdated for sometime. CD's are "old hat" technology, and no matter what is recorded on them should cost no more than a few Pounds. I'm aware that piracy has affected he music industry, but that in my opinion is a direct result of the afore mention over pricing. Perhaps HMV Should have reviewed their business model some time ago, and the High Street wouldn't be about to lose another once great chain.
As for HMV, if it goes there will now be nowhere in town to buy CD's and DVD's. WHsmiths have stopped selling them.
M J P Smith
says...
3:15pm Tue 15 Jan 13
M J P Smith wrote:I'll correct myself, before anyone else seeks the pleasure. CD's have been commercially available since 1982, that obviously makes them a medium of over thirty years old. y
melloj1 wrote:Where in my comment does it suggest "losing CD's"? I'm merely pointing out that as a medium of nearly twenty five years old, they should not be as expensive as they are. Magazines and newspapers give them away, but HMV expect us to pay through the nose for them.
M J P Smith wrote:CD's might be 'old hat' but it is still the only medium where you get full uncompressed quality audio. If we are going to lose CD's then we need to lose MP3 too. There is no need for MP3 any longer, hard drives are now big enough to hold enough songs without compressing music to MP3.
From a nostalgic point of view, I'll be sorry to see HMV close.When I was a teenager that shop was always my first port of call upon arriving in town. However, I've considered the store over priced and outdated for sometime. CD's are "old hat" technology, and no matter what is recorded on them should cost no more than a few Pounds. I'm aware that piracy has affected he music industry, but that in my opinion is a direct result of the afore mention over pricing. Perhaps HMV Should have reviewed their business model some time ago, and the High Street wouldn't be about to lose another once great chain.
As for HMV, if it goes there will now be nowhere in town to buy CD's and DVD's. WHsmiths have stopped selling them.
mikeybaby1977
says...
7:06pm Tue 15 Jan 13
normid norm
says...
7:34pm Tue 15 Jan 13
temujin
says...
7:39pm Tue 15 Jan 13
Rememberscarborough wrote:Worth pointing out that if vouchers bought on credit/debit cards it may be possible to get the money back from the bank.
Yet another company going bust owing a fortune to people who have bought gift cards that they now won't honour. Time to either make gift cards illegal or give them preferential creditor status i.e. before the banks. In the mean time don't buy gift cards unless you're quite happy throwing your money away.
Rememberscarborough
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8:20pm Tue 15 Jan 13
Don Kiddick
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2:01pm Thu 17 Jan 13
melloj1 wrote:what nonsense is this????? of course CDs are compressed !!!! they're recorded at 16-bit 44.1 kHz PCM so a long way from what was actually recorded in the studio. They are better than MP3s true enough, but way behind vinyl in the lossless department.
M J P Smith wrote: From a nostalgic point of view, I'll be sorry to see HMV close.When I was a teenager that shop was always my first port of call upon arriving in town. However, I've considered the store over priced and outdated for sometime. CD's are "old hat" technology, and no matter what is recorded on them should cost no more than a few Pounds. I'm aware that piracy has affected he music industry, but that in my opinion is a direct result of the afore mention over pricing. Perhaps HMV Should have reviewed their business model some time ago, and the High Street wouldn't be about to lose another once great chain.CD's might be 'old hat' but it is still the only medium where you get full uncompressed quality audio. If we are going to lose CD's then we need to lose MP3 too. There is no need for MP3 any longer, hard drives are now big enough to hold enough songs without compressing music to MP3. As for HMV, if it goes there will now be nowhere in town to buy CD's and DVD's. WHsmiths have stopped selling them.
127001
says...
5:34pm Fri 18 Jan 13
I remember visiting HMV when it was around at Middlebrook - high prices, very little choice unless you liked anything from the past 10 years...
They just didn't adapt to what was happening around them... i.e. still stuck in the 1990s.
p.s. I still buy physical media as opposed to downloading anything.
theworldsgonemad12
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11:10pm Fri 18 Jan 13
ere can i buy a stylus needle ?
theworldsgonemad12
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11:14pm Fri 18 Jan 13
temujin says...
9:00am Tue 15 Jan 13