HMV goes into administration

Over 4,000 jobs are at risk as HMV goes into administration

Music and DVD store HMV is the latest casualty on the high street after going into administration.

Deloitte will keep the chain's 239 UK and Irish stores open while assessing the prospects for the business, however 4,530 staff jobs could be at risk.

HMV has released a statement saying: '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.

They added they 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 will not accept gift vouchers and won't be issuing any more.

HMV, which has been trading since 1921, has struggled against competition from online stores such as Amazon and iTunes.

Last month they announced a month-long sale with 25 per cent off prices, sparking fears the company had suffered from poor trading over the festive period.

They join other music chains Zavvi and Music Zone in failing to hold up against online shopping, as well as camera chain Jessops which closed last week.

Matthew Hopkinson, from the Local Data Company, said the news about HMV is worrying for shopping centres.

'If you take it into account what we've seen in Jessops, all happening within one week, there are going to be some major holes in the High Street.

'And HMV particularly has some very large stores - and obviously over 60% of their stores sit within shopping centres. So shopping centres will be hardest hit.'

Will you miss HMV if it closes down? Let us know in the comments below.

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