Now Video Rental Chain Blockbuster calls in the Administrators
with up to 4,000 jobs at risk
Daily Mail, 29 Oct 2013
The firm’s private equity owners threw in the towel today (Tues) by announcing plans to appoint an administrator
De ja vu: A Blockbuster video store Getty
Video rental chain Blockbuster is set to go bust for the second time this year - putting 2,000 jobs at risk.
The firm’s private equity owners threw in the towel today by announcing plans to appoint an administrator.
Gordon Brothers Europe said efforts to turnarond the loss-making UK arm had failed, while it also blamed the failure to develop an online venture on Blockbuster’s US parent company.
All 264 stores will remain open while administrators try to find a buyer, but 32 redundancies were confirmed at the firm’s headquarters.
It comes less than a year after Blockbuster, which opened its first UK branch in London in 1989, went to the wall before.
The company has been hammered by the rising popularity in movie downloading and streaming via the internet.
Blockbuster’s parent company in the US went bankrupt in 2010, although it was later rescued in a £200million deal.
Gordon Brothers, which bought part of the collapsed UK arm in March, insisted it had worked hard to save the firm
Frank Morton, chief executive of the company, said: “Since the acquisition we have worked extremely hard to reignite the Blockbuster brand, make our investment work and put the business on a viable footing.
“Despite our best efforts, we regret that we are now forced to make some redundancies and would like to thank any affected employees for their support during the last six months.”
However retail expert Maureen Hinton, of Verdict, warned the writing was always on the wall for Blockbuster.
She said: “The firm is counting the cost of trying to keep up with its competitors.
“Trying to get into digital at this stage was always going to be difficult when the likes of Lovefilm have stolen a march on them.
“Even if you want to buy the physical movies, it is probably cheaper to get it from a supermarket then rent it from Blockbuster.”
