HMV is purchased by Canadian retailer
BUSINESS: Stricken retailer HMV has been bought out of administration by a Canadian retailer, safeguarding the future of nearly 1,500 staff, and sparing all bar one store in Yorkshire.
Sunrise Records beat off competition from the likes of Mike Ashley for the entertainment business and will acquire 100 stores in the UK.
STRICKEN RETAILER HMV has been bought out of administration by a Canadian retailer, safeguarding the future of nearly 1,500 staff, and sparing all bar one store in Yorkshire.
Sunrise Records, which is owned by Doug Putman, beat off competition from the likes of Mike Ashley for the entertainment business and will acquire 100 stores across the UK.
However, 27 unprofitable outlets – including the store in Sheffield’s Meadowhall – have closed with immediate effect, resulting in 455 redundancies.
The closed branches also include the chain’s flagship Oxford Street store in London, which was the site of its first ever shop in 1921. Other affected towns and cities include Bath, Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol.
Another 122 warehouse workers will be kept on by administrator KPMG to assist in winding down operations.
Mr Putman, 34, bought Sunrise Records in 2014 when it had just five stores, and has seen it expand to 84, following the purchase of 70 HMV stores after the Canadian arm went bust in 2017.
He said: “We are delighted to acquire the most iconic music and entertainment business in the UK and add nearly 1,500 employees to our growing 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.”
Staff in the HMV store in Hull’s struggling Whitefriargate – which has been hit by the devastating news that its anchor Marks & Spencer store, just a few doors down, is to close as early as April – were relieved.
“In terms of the bids that were put in this one was one of the better ones. We feared it could have been worse,” said one of the staff.
HMV became the first high street casualty after Christmas when its then-owner Hilco called in corporate administrators in December. It was the second time that HMV has collapsed in recent years, having filed for administration in 2013.
The likes of Poundworld, Toys’R’Us and Maplin all went bust last year amid brutal trading, while heavyweights Marks & Spencer and Debenhams announced plans to close hundreds of stores.
Several others – including Superdry, Carpetright and Card Factory – have all issued profit warnings.