HMV on brink of collapse

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Britain’s iconic music chain HMV is on the brink of collapse and was on Tuesday placed in administration to try and salvage the business.

The imminent collapse of HMV chain, comprising over 200 stores in the UK and Ireland, comes just after camera chain Jessops and electrical goods chain Comet collapsed in the UK.
HMV, or “His Master’s Voice,” started trading in 1921 after first HMV store was launched at 363 Oxford Street in London July 20, 1921. The chain has dominated music retail on the UK high street till now, but the warning signs about the stability of the firm were highlighted when the HMV Group sold book store chain Waterstone’s in June 2011 in order to shore up finances.
Sir Richard Branson had in 2007 disposed of his Virgin Megastores, which along with HMV was the among the last two remaining national retailers following a raft of closures over the last few years.
“The board regrets to announce that it has been unable to reach a position where it feels able to continue to trade outside of insolvency protection and in the circumstances therefore intends to file notice to appoint administrators to the company and certain of its subsidiaries with immediate effect,” the HMV Group board announced early on Tuesday. The trade in HMV shares on FTSE was suspended from Tuesday morning.
HMV has appointed Nick Edwards, Neville Kahn and Rob Harding of Deloitte as administrators. The company said: “The directors understand that it is the intention of the administrators, once appointed, to continue to trade whilst they seek a purchaser for the business.”
The chain employs some 4,350 staff and their jobs are now at risk unless the administrators are able to find buyers for the beleaguered chain.
Trevor Moore, chief executive of HMV, at a press conference on Tuesday said he was optimistic about the future of HMV and was “confident that we will find a solution.”
“There are likely to be very many options for this business over the next few weeks,” he added.