I’ve got a plan, says HMV chief executive

THE boss of the embattled retail chain HMV said yesterday he was “convinced” a future can be secured for the business despite it falling into administration after poor Christmas sales.

Trevor Moore, the music and entertainment chain’s chief executive, insisted there was a place for HMV on the high street and said he was “confident that we will find a solution”.

The group confirmed it had been a grim Christmas, saying sales had been disappointing after the failure to secure the supply of two key tablet computers saw it miss out on surging demand for the devices.

While it did not reveal its festive performance, HMV said sales declines remained around the 10.2 per cent level seen in the half year to October 26.

“There are likely to be very many options for this business in the coming days. We have a plan in mind and don’t think it is beyond us to deliver it,” Mr Moore said.

The retailer, which called in the administrators on Monday, is the second high street casualty of 2013 after camera company Jessops went into administration last week. Mr Moore joined HMV from Jessops last year.

All of HMV’s 239 outlets – including nine Fopp stores – will remain open while Deloitte attempts to find a buyer for part or all of the business, although it is likely that there will be widespread closures.

Online orders will also continue to be fulfilled, the group said.

HMV has 21 stores in Scotland, that employ 400 staff, and three Fopp stores.

Gordon Montgomery, who founded the Fopp chain in Glasgow in 1981, yesterday ruled himself out of launching a rescue bid for the business. Mr Montgomery, who now runs the Rise chain of record stores in the south-west of England, told The Scotsman: “We have no plans for expansion at the moment. Things are hard enough for all retailers, so we’re going to concentrate on the stores we have.”

Yesterday shoppers at HMV and Fopp in Edinburgh expressed shock and sadness that they chain was entering administration.

Peter Gordon, from Edinburgh, had purchased Taggart and Cracker DVDs from both Fopp and HMV, and said: “When I heard on the news I was quite upset, because I thought, ‘Where am I going to shop now?’ It’s been an institution. It’s been open for a hundred years, that’s a long time, I’m going to miss it.”

Squeezed by internet retailers and supermarkets, whose scale has enabled them to offer CDs and DVDs at cheaper prices, HMV warned before Christmas that it was in trouble.

Suppliers, including Universal Music, went to HMV’s rescue in January 2011 with a deal which helped the retailer shed some of its huge debt pile.

According to the Financial Times, they balked at a request last week from HMV for about £300 million in additional financing to pay off its bank debt and fund an overhaul of the company’s business model.

However, HMV praised the “amazing support” it had received from suppliers.

The role of HMV’s lenders in its collapse is also under scrutiny, especially given that lead banks Royal Bank of Scotland

and Lloyds Banking Group are backed by tax-payer cash.