February 5, 2019 9.37 am This story is over 60 months old

Lincoln HMV safe as company sold

Many stores saved

Music store chain HMV has been bought by a Canadian entrepreneur, safeguarding 100 shops and jobs across the UK, including the Lincoln shop.

Despite the buyout, some 27 unprofitable HMV stores will close immediately and 455 jobs will be lost, due to “high rents”, administrators KPMG said.

A further 122 jobs will also be lost from warehouse divisions of the company.

Latest Update: The full list of stores to close was announced on February 5, confirming Lincoln’s secure position.

Lincoln’s store, located on the High Street opened as usual this morning and was serving customers.

The firm, which went into administration for the second time in six years just after Christmas, blamed tough High Street trading conditions and competition from streaming sites for its collapse.

At the time, more than 2,200 jobs were insecure and Lincoln was on the list of 130 shops ‘at risk of closure’. 

Doug Putman, who runs Canadian retailer Sunrise Records, fought off competition from Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley to acquire the company for an undisclosed fee.

Today, Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: “We are pleased to confirm this sale which, after a complex process, secures the continued trading of the majority of the business.

“Our immediate concern is now to support those employees that have unfortunately been made redundant.”