Posts Tagged ‘administration’
Deathwatch: more HMV closures and administration for Axminster
February 20th, 2013 • 7 Comments
There was bad news all round for fans of music and lovers of luxurious carpets, as HMV announced more store closures and Axminster went into administration.
The beleaguered entertainment retailer has trimmed its number of stores down again, with a further 37 set to close, with the loss of 464 jobs. They follow on from the previously announced 66 store closures, all of which will leave HMV with just 116 stores.
Meanwhile, 250-year-old Axminster has appointed the administrators in an attempt to provide the company and its creditors with time to explore various rescue options. It says here.
If it goes, it’ll be the end of the line for a great name that we weren’t entirely sure still existed.
Deathwatch: Republic to enter administration
February 12th, 2013 • 15 CommentsWe saw this one coming a week or so ago, but news is emerging that fashion chain Republic will go into administration tomorrow, with the jobs of 1,000 workers at risk.
The company’s CEO, Andy Bond, recently left and the Twitter accounts of individual stores were also closed down, possibly as bosses realised that a rash of HMV-style Twitter takeovers could occur once the shit hit the fan.
If you’ve got gift cards/vouchers for Republic, we’d advise you spend them TODAY.
More on this as we get it… unless we go down the pub.
Deathwatch: HMV to enter administration
January 14th, 2013 • 67 CommentsIt’s no major surprise but the sad news is that HMV will appoint Deloitte as administrators in the morning, with 230 stores and 4,000 jobs in jeopardy.
The move comes a few days after the launch of a blue cross sale, with 25% knocked off the price of many items instore. Whether or not this was a last-ditch attempt to raise some revenue is unsure, but the administration news has leaked earlier this evening.
Weirdly, HMV is currently headed by Trevor Moore, former boss of Jessops. Erm…
If you’ve got an HMV gift voucher, GET IT SPENT ASAP.
EDIT: It has been announced that HMV will not be accepting gift vouchers.
Deathwatch: RIP Jessops
January 11th, 2013 • 25 CommentsWord is reaching us that the entire 187-strong chain of Jessops stores will close at the end of today, which should mean the loss of around 2,000 jobs across the country.
The company went into administration earlier in the week and was believed to owe HSBC £30 million. More news as we get it…
UPDATE: The 187 stores will begin closing FROM today. The administrator PwC has said that the retailer can no longer trade without supplier support.
Deathwatch: Jessops heading into administration
January 9th, 2013 • 22 CommentsWord is reaching us that ailing photographic retailer Jessops is about to go into administration. Basically, when Robert Peston tweets about something, it’s definitely happening.
As you can see, 198 stores will be affected with 2,000 staff left wondering how much longer they’ll have a job for. The chain has already been slimmed down with scores of store closures over the past few years, and it remains to be seen what the outcome of the administration move will be.
Dixons boss coldly says that Comet demise is ‘helpful’
November 29th, 2012 • 19 Comments
Business is pretty ugly and callous, but the head cheese of Dixons is taking the biscuit by openly being happy about the demise of Comet.
Sebastian James, Dixons Retail’s chief executive, said the group was “outpacing” competitors and would benefit after Comet slid into administration, adding that Comet’s demise had been “helpful from a market share perspective”.
Now, rubbing his hands together, he points out that Currys and PC World were well placed to pick up customers and that Dixons Retail saw like-for-like sales rising in the UK and Ireland, which is only going to get better now that Comet is dead.
Business eh?
Lazaruswatch? Saviour coming for Comet?
November 23rd, 2012 • 3 Comments
Back in the 1980s, Tina Turner famously sang ‘We don’t need another hero’ while her fellow chanteuse Bonnie Tyler was Holding Out For A Hero instead. Who was right? Maybe both, maybe neither.
If you’re a Comet employee, you’re definitely in the Tyler camp right now, with redundancy looming just ahead of Christmas. But that hero could be on the horizon, with reports that a ‘mystery tycoon’ is trying to buy up 140 of the 195 not-doomed-yet Comet stores that administrator Deloitte is trying to flog.
An insider tells The Sun that Deloitte have ‘accepted an outline deal’ for the stores, from a Bournemouth-based tycoon who is believed to be linked to the Euronics distributor.
Meanwhile, Bolton-based Appliances Online has made a ‘seven-figure’ bid to snap up the Comet brand name for exclusive use on the web. 1,500 Comet staff have lost their jobs, but today’s news will bring fresh hope to the remaining workers.
Deathwatch: Is the end nigh for Comet?
November 18th, 2012 • 5 CommentsThe inevitable is about to happen, with Comet’s administrators admitting that 41 stores will close their doors by the end of the month unless a buyer can be found.
That would still leave another 195 stores trading but it wouldn’t be a surprise if more store closures are announced over the next week or so as time starts to run out for the beleaguered electrical retailer.
Dixons and Maplins are said to have expressed an interest in buying some of the more profitable stores, but that is probably the best that the administrators can hope for.
Meanwhile, staff are calling for an investigation into the conduct of OpCapita, the private investment company which bought up the Comet chain for £2.00 last year.
Deathwatch: Could Malmaison be closing its doors soon?
November 14th, 2012 • 5 Comments
Could the ‘boutique’ hotel be about to disappear from the landscape as the economic chill takes the nation’s purses in its vile grip? Maybe.
We were awoken to the disturbing news that MWB, the company behind the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison hotel chains is looking to go into administration if ongoing refinancing plans don’t work.
Believe it or not, the cause of the potential collapse is an ongoing row between the company and ITSELF. Well, actually it’s a subsidiary company that it part-owns, MWB Business Exchange, and they’re rowing over the repayment of multi-million pound liabilities between the two companies.
We won’t bore you with the details but if it doesn’t get sorted soon, the boys and girls from Deloitte will be moving in with their administrating kits and doing whatever it is they do. Apart from making themselves a load of money that is.
Deathwatch: Comet gift cards to be accepted again
November 7th, 2012 • 5 CommentsThere’s been another twist in the tale of woe that is Comet’s slide into the abyss, with administrators Deloitte performing a U-turn over gift vouchers and allowing them to be used in Comet stores again.
Voucher use was suspended at the weekend as part of the administration process but there was controversy when a Plymouth store allegedly rejected a £500 gift card given by a charity to a four–year–old boy with cerebral palsy.
That card will now be accepted and Deloitte said it was ‘necessary to temporarily suspend the acceptance of gift cards as a means for payment in order to allow the joint administrators time to assess the financial position of the company and collate information about the quantity, value and nature of gift cards in circulation.’
‘Having now had the opportunity to do so, we are very pleased to inform Comet customers that the company will be able to accept gift cards which have been purchased and paid for in full by members of the public.’ How nice of them.
Also being nice is posho Dixons Retail boss Lord Sebastian James, who has said that he’ll be happy to employ ex-Comet staff as he looks to recruit 2,000 Christmas staff. If it is indeed the end for Comet, that could prove to be a lifeline, albeit a temporary one for some of the 6,000-plus workers that could lose their livelihoods. Thanks Lord Sebastian!
Deathwatch: Comet stop accepting gift vouchers
November 4th, 2012 • 8 CommentsHolders of Comet gift vouchers have been warned to get them spent over the past couple of days and here’s why – the administrators have now suspended their use.
On the newly-restored Comet website, it says that ‘the administrators are currently considering the position in relation to gift cards and gift vouchers and at this stage they cannot be used to pay for items. The administrators are reviewing this position urgently.’
Comet stores opened again on Friday, although the mooted ‘fire sale’ hasn’t begun as yet, although the site says that a sale will be beginning soon.
As far as customer orders are concerned, if your order isn’t currently in stock at a Comet delivery centre, then you won’t be getting it. There has been no word on any potential buyers for the chain, leaving 6,000 workers unsure about their futures.
POSSIBLE DEAL ATTACK: Fire sale at Comet?
November 2nd, 2012 • 46 CommentsAdministration has been confirmed, the website has been down and the stores have been closed, but Comet will be opening the doors again at 1pm, and there’s a strong chance that a firesale is in the offing.
The stores were closed while staff were briefed about the future of the company and their job prospects, and it remains to be seen what they’ll do with the current stock. No doubt any desirable bargains will be flagged up over at HotUKDeals.
It should also be reiterated that if you have Comet vouchers, you should use them as soon as possible, in case they become null and void as part of the administration process.
Deathwatch: Administration for Comet?
October 31st, 2012 • 41 CommentsCrikey – here’s one we didn’t see coming. The FT are reporting that Comet are on the brink of administration, with the deed possibly being done of Thursday morning, putting 6,000 jobs at risk.
Comet has been bumping along for a few years now but when the company was bought up by private investment firm OpCapita for £2 less than a year ago and it looked as things might pick up.
The FT is reporting that Comet has fallen foul of a ‘cash crunch’ as the festive season approaches, partly due to supplier terms becoming tougher as the company was operating without the safety net of credit insurance.
If indeed Comet does go into administration (with Deloitte tipped to get the job), it remains to be seen if some or all of the business will be snapped up by another retailer. Maybe Best Buy will come back for another go. Maybe John Browett will buy them with his pay-off from Apple. MAYBE BITTERWALLET WILL BRANCH OUT INTO ELECTRICAL RETAILING. EH? EH???
[FT]
Deathwatch: RIP JJB
October 1st, 2012 • 8 CommentsJJB Sports is no more. We knew this was coming and it’s been inevitable for a while, but the bad news is that much LESS of the company has been sold off (and fewer jobs saved) than was originally predicted.
As expected, Sports Direct has cherry-picked the best bits of JJB, but that amounts to just 20 stores, with 550 jobs being saved. Sadly, the remaining 133 stores will close today, with the loss of approximately 2,200 jobs.
The stores that have been sold to Sports Direct are in Airdrie, Antrim, Brighton, Chorley, Cumbernauld, Dorchester, Dover, Elgin, Glasgow Silverburn, Leamington Spa, Leeds, Lisburn, Liverpool, Llandudno, Londonderry, Oldbury, Rhyl, Rochdale, West Bromwich and Winchester.
[KPMG]
Deathwatch: JJB finally heading towards administration
September 15th, 2012 • 4 CommentsJJB Sports could finally hurl itself over the retail finishing line over the next few days, before collapsing in a heap and throwing up all over its own shoes. Metaphorically speaking that is.
After weathering various financial storms and finally putting itself up for sale last month, it looks as though a pre-pack administration is on the cards, with Sports Direct looking most likely to snap up the tastiest shops in the 180-store chain.
Mike Ashley’s company are reportedly only interested in less than 50 stores, which would sadly lead to huge job losses – JJB has around 4,000 staff. The deal could also lead to the intervention of the Office of Fair Trading, who will be keen to see if Sports Direct will be taking too large a slice of the sporting goods pie.
Although Sports Direct are in pole position to seal the deal, the Independent are reporting that JD Sports and US chain Dick’s Sporting Goods are also showing an interest in some kind of deal. It should all play itself out over the next few days, but it looks as though the JJB Sports name could soon vanish from the high streets and retail parks of the UK…
