HMV administrator to axe 1,000 jobs as 66 stores close

HMV's administrator Deloitte is set to axe more than 900 jobs by closing 66 stores over the coming two months.

The shops identified for closure include those in Wood Green, Wandsworth and Bayswater in London, and Burton-upon-Trent, Edinburgh, Wakefield, Wigan, Falkirk, Huddersfield and Chesterfield.

HMV went into administration last month, putting more than 4,000 jobs at risk, although it continues to trade all its 220 stores. The coming closures will see 930 jobs cut.

While HMV remains in administration, its £120m of debt was bought by the restructuring company Hilco for less than £40m last month. This raised the prospect that Hilco, which acquired HMV Canada in 2011, may rescue a slimmed-down version of the UK chain.

Deloitte, via the property firm CBRE, set a deadline of last Friday to receive bids on nearly 220 shop leases. The property company Savills is advising Deloitte on the potential sale of HMV's Oxford Street store, thought to make profits of £1.3m a year. Tesco is understood to want about 20 HMV stores, while Iceland is eying up 50 and Sainsbury's is looking at about 25.

Nick Edwards, joint administrator at Deloitte, said it has decided to close the 66 stores to "enhance the prospects of securing the business' future as a going concern".