Photo: Shirlaine Forrest
66 HMV stores are set to close across the UK, with the loss of 930 jobs, as the chain seeks to prevent further losses and the list of shops set to shut has been revealed. See the list of closing stores below.
66 stores across the UK will be closed in the new measures, which follow HMV's collapse after years of poor sales. All five HMV outlets in Ediburgh, three Glasgow stores and four in London will be closed over the next two months.
The full list of stores closing is as follows:
Ashton-under-Lyne, Ballymena, Barnsley, Bayswater, Belfast Boucher Road, Belfast Forestside, Bexleyheath, Birkenhead, Birmingham Fort, Blackburn, Boston, Bournemouth Castlepoint, Bracknell, Burton-upon-Trent, Camberley, Chesterfield, Coleraine, Craigavon, Croydon Centrale, Derry, Dumfries, Durham, Edinburgh Fort, Edinburgh Gyle Centre, Edinburgh Ocean, Edinburgh Princes Street, Edinburgh St James, Falkirk, Fulham, Glasgow – Fort, Glasgow – Silverburn, Glasgow Braehead, Huddersfield, Kirkcaldy, Leamington Spa, Leeds White Rose, Lisburn, Loughborough, Luton, Manchester 90, Moorgate, Newry, Newtonabbey, Orpington, Rochdale, Scunthorpe, South Shields, Speke Park, St Albans, St Helens, Stockton-on-Tees, Tamworth, Teesside, Telford, Trocadero, Wakefield, Walsall, Walton-on-Thames, Wandsworth, Warrington, Watford, Wellingborough, Wigan, Wood Green, Workington, Wrexham.
"As part of our ongoing review of HMV's financial position, we have now completed a review of the store portfolio and have identified 66 loss-making stores for closure," says administrator Nick Edwards of Deloittes. "This step has been taken in order to enhance the prospects of securing the business' future as a going concern.
"We continue to receive strong support from staff and are extremely grateful to them for their commitment during an understandably difficult period. All other key stakeholders remain very supportive and I continue to be hopeful of securing a future for the restructured business."
66 HMV stores across the UK will close, and 930 staff will lose their jobs
HMV managed to keep the new batch of job losses secret, after a disgruntled employee kept Twitter followers entertained with live updates on a previous sacking within the store.
The tweets revealed that 60 members of staff were being fired en masse, in what the Twitter feed described as a 'mass execution'.
"We're tweeting live from HR where we're all being fired! Exciting!!" said the first tweet. "There are over 60 of us being fired at once! Mass execution, of loyal employees who love the brand."
The Twitter account then apologised for staying silent for so long, adding: "Sorry we've been quiet for so long. Under contract, we've been unable to say a word, or -more importantly - tell the truth."
Below: Frightened Rabbit at meet and greet with fans in Manchester HMV
