Argonath RPG - A World of its own
Argonath RPG Community => Speakerbox => World and local news => Topic started by: Reece on January 15, 2013, 12:04:06 am
-
HMV, the beleaguered entertainment chain, is set to bring down the curtain on nearly 100 years of history by filing for insolvency, marking a grisly start to the new year for the high street with thousands of expected job losses.
The 236-store retailer of CDs, DVDs and computer games will file a notice of intention to appoint the accountancy firm Deloitte as administrator after HMV’s banks and suppliers ran out of patience.
The demise of 92-year-old HMV, which employs 4,350 staff, comes just days after the camera chain Jessops shut all its 187 stores and the electrical retailer Comet disappeared from the high street before Christmas. All three chains had been hammered by the inexorable shift to consumers buying their products online and cut-throat competition from supermarkets.
The explosion in digital downloading compounded HMV’s problems, as UK consumers spent more than £1bn on downloaded films, music and games in 2012, according to the Entertainment Retailers Association.
Following torrid trading before Christmas, HMV last week reportedly pleaded with its suppliers, including the world’s biggest music labels, games makers and film studios, for £300m of additional funding to pay off its debt mountain, as part of a radical restructuring of its business.
But this lifeline was rejected. By filing a notice of intention to appoint Deloitte, HMV – whose chief executive is Trevor Moore, the former boss of Jessops – is not yet in administration. But it has just 10 working days to hammer out a rescue deal before the seemingly inevitable formal insolvency takes effect.
HMV had been battling for its life since it issued a “going concern†warning before Christmas and said it would almost certainly breach bank debt tests at the end of this month. This followed a 10.2 per cent slump in sales and its net debt rising to £176.1m over the six months to the end of October.
The restructuring specialist Hilco could be interested in acquiring HMV UK out of administration and keeping a slimmed-down version on the high street. Hilco has delivered a turnaround at HMV Canada, which it bought in 2011. It is also possible that Apollo, the US private equity firm, may come back to look at HMV if, as expected, it falls into administration. Apollo bought six per cent of HMV’s bank debt two weeks ago but yesterday people familiar with the situation said it had no intention to make an offer for the UK chain. Both Hilco and Apollo declined to comment last night.
The composer Sir Edward Elgar opened the inaugural HMV store on London’s Oxford Street in 1921. HMV stands for “his master’s voice†and the retailer is synonymous with Nipper, the Jack Russell dog in its logo.
HMV had been in crisis talks with its eight-strong-banking syndicate, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, ING, Santander and Sweden’s Handelsbanken, for weeks. Shares in HMV fell to 1.1p yesterday, giving it a market value of just £5.1m.
As recently as August, HMV had forecast it would make profits of £10m this financial year but its fate is likely to be soon in the hands of its administrators.
HMV said it was the intention of the administrators, once appointed, to continue to trade the stores while they seek a purchaser for the business.
-
Poor HMV, all them jobs.. :neutral:
-
This was bound to happen. You have piracy and online sales, a scarce amount of people visit video stores anymore.
-
This was bound to happen. You have piracy and online sales, a scarce amount of people visit video stores anymore.
Yeh, I know I never do.. HMV's just been there, existing, not making any profits.
-
Its the global crizez guyz, global crizez! Collect your moniez!!
-
Poor old His Master's Voice. I'll play my records with even more pleasure now, knowing the place they were bought is going down.
-
Poor old His Master's Voice. I'll play my records with even more pleasure now, knowing the place they were bought is going down.
You mean you payed for them? :wow:
-
You mean you payed for them? :wow:
play my records
There isn't exactly a way to pirate vinyl.
-
There isn't exactly a way to pirate vinyl.
i got over a thousand pirated vinyls
come at me
rip UK only business only brits knew
-
i got over a thousand pirated vinyls
come at me
rip UK only business only brits knew
The magic of vinyl, is it being on vinyl. Also we really shouldn't discuss piracy, so no more.
-
Aaaaaah vinyl
-
Every month, it seems, another industry giant goes under.
Maybe goes to show how much of a widespread impact recent economic downturns have had.
Some people like having the physical vinyl or album sitting on their shelves rather than having the digital version hanging in iTunes. Guess it keeps older traditions going. Just to think, kids born these days will have no idea what a floppy was and dare I say, who knows if they will be able to recognise a music CD. :D
-
rip sweet prince
-
kids born these days will have no idea what a floppy was
:redface:
-
Every month, it seems, another industry giant goes under.
Maybe goes to show how much of a widespread impact recent economic downturns have had.
That being said, it opens the door for lots of smaller businesses to open/start, I guess HMV should have closed doors and started completely online a long time ago.
-
This was bound to happen. You have piracy and online sales, a scarce amount of people visit video stores anymore.
Piracy is not a major cause of the industry's downturns. As a matter of fact, record labels and entertainment companies have earned increasing billions as time goes by.
The main factor is the change in the times. Going to a store that might even have a limited stock is no longer such an enticing idea, considering that over half of the world's music is available to anyone with a PC and the know-how.
A similar case is the shift from horse carriages to automobiles. Even if you raised the finest horses and built the sturdiest carriages, your business would still go down due to the change of the times.
-
Cheeky bastards sold me a game today with a scratched disc that doesn't work at all. Not too pleased, and I'll make that known to them tomorrow.
-
Blockbusters just joined them, however I'm suprised Blockbusters didn't go ages ago..
-
Blockbusters just joined them, however I'm suprised Blockbusters didn't go ages ago..
They stayed alive by trying to become an online-only business, and offered tons of promotions through other companies to get people to sign up. It worked for awhile, but unfortunately their time has come and gone.
-
They stayed alive by trying to become an online-only business, and offered tons of promotions through other companies to get people to sign up. It worked for awhile, but unfortunately their time has come and gone.
I doubt they will succeed, as competitors such as Netflix who have only just come into the UK recently are already taking over the markets and becoming successful. The future is in streaming movies and not sending them by post. If Blockbuster go into streaming services they will likely fail as other bigger companies are already doing it.
-
I doubt they will succeed, as competitors such as Netflix who have only just come into the UK recently are already taking over the markets and becoming successful. The future is in streaming movies and not sending them by post. If Blockbuster go into streaming services they will likely fail as other bigger companies are already doing it.
I agree. That's actually the primary reason for their failure too.
-
I doubt they will succeed, as competitors such as Netflix who have only just come into the UK recently are already taking over the markets and becoming successful. The future is in streaming movies and not sending them by post. If Blockbuster go into streaming services they will likely fail as other bigger companies are already doing it.
Or others may say 'Oh remember before computers when we went to Blockbusters to rent a film? They do them online now so well use them not Netflix and other sites'.. :D