April 2, 2012 1.53 pm This story is over 142 months old

Two Lincoln game shops safeguarded after one is closed

One down, two staying: Game Group was bought from administration, safeguarding jobs at the two remaining stores in Lincoln.

The GAME store in Cornhill and the Gamestation on the High Street will continue trading, after the Game Group went into administration last week and investment firm OpCapita acquired the retailer on Sunday.

However, the GAME store in Valentine Retail Park off Tritton Road has been closed last week, as some 276 of the group’s 609 stores were shut.

Stores in Gainsborough’s Marshall’s Yard, Victoria Street in Grimsby, High Street in Grantham and High Street in Scunthorpe were also closed across Lincolnshire.

OpCapita said it will retain the remaining 333 UK stores and safeguard more than 3,200 jobs. Around 2,100 store employees were made redundant last week.

One of the two remaining Game Group stores in Lincoln, GAME in Cornhill

PwC partner and Game Group administrator Mike Jervis said: “This means that the GAME brand will not be another one of the retail names disappearing from the high street in the current difficult climate.”

Commenting on the agreement, Henry Jackson, Managing Partner of OpCapita said: “We strongly believe there is a place on the high street for a video gaming specialist and GAME is the leading brand in a £2.8 billion market in the UK.

“We have assembled a strong team of experienced industry operators to implement the programme of operational change that is needed.

“There is a huge amount to do but we look forward to the challenge of restoring GAME’s fortunes in partnership with its employees and suppliers.”

OpCapita also bought Comet last year for just £2 plus the store’s debts, and it is thought the company’s acquisition of GAME is a similar deal.

A message in the window of the closed Lincoln GAME store on Tritton Road, urging people to visit the chain’s other city stores
Related Reports: BBC News, The Guardian