One of UK’s biggest music chains suddenly collapses into administration with staff left ‘hung out to dry’
ONE of the UK’s biggest music chains has suddenly collapsed into administration – as employees say they’ve been “hung out to dry”.
The leading musical instrument shop filed for insolvency on April 15 after swirling rumours among staff about the future of the business.
Gak Music Emporium in Brighton shut up shop on March 25 after its stock and website were reportedly bought by an online retailer for £2.4million.
Eagle-eyed customers noticed the site was down earlier this month, with a message saying it was “currently unavailable”.
Online shoppers are now being redirected to Gear4music, a musical instruments and equipment retailer.
The firm has reportedly purchased over a million pounds worth of stock together with assets including websites and trademarks.
According to Connor, a musical technician at the store, employees were left in the dark for weeks leading up to being let go.
He said staff had been “hung out to dry” with many made redundant on April 7.
He told the Argus: “We were hung out to dry. On Friday [March 28], they emailed saying ‘still no investors, but we’ll update you on Monday’.
“On Monday we were told there were still no investors. We were told we were employed all this time, so it was very confusing for staff.”
The musical buff said he’s resorted to posting flyers on the closed shop front advertising his services in a bid to secure some work.
A spokeswoman for Gear4music said: “The company has entered insolvency and appointed an insolvency practitioner.
“Its assets, including stock, branding, and websites, have been sold to Gear4music.com.
“The original company, however, still legally exists and remains responsible for its liabilities, but may not have funds to meet them.”
This comes just weeks after an iconic music shop that had been in business for almost 50 years was forced to close.
The family-owned store, which started as an organ shop, had been plagued by long-term parking issues.
Intasound first launched on Narborough Road, Leicester, in 1976 and was the town’s last remaining independent music store.
Lloyd Wright and his brother Alex took over the business after their dad, Malcolm, retired.
But the brothers say the lack of parking had been a huge issue and was impacting sales.
Lloyd told Leicestershire Live said: “Regular feedback is about parking not being available, if you’re buying a large piece and having to park three roads down, it’s just not practical.”
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.