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Music Zone sounds a dirge for its workers

Your Money
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Your Money
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25/03/2024

Around 800 people are about to be laid off from CD and DVD retailer Music Zone as administrators Deloitte have failed to find a buyer willing to make a UK investment into the stricken chain.  

Music Zone – founded from a Manchester market stall in 1984 by Russ Grainger – had been struggling for some time against stiff competition from the supermarkets, and a host of online rivals, and the company finally went into liquidation on 3rd January.

Based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, Music Zone had 104 stores across the country and had been bought in a £12m UK investment management buyout in 2005, with financial resources provided by Lloyds Development Capital.

Deloitte stated that they had hoped to find someone to run the company as a going concern, but had run out of time to achieve the desired UK investment and had conceded defeat.

In a statement, Deloitte said: “Whilst discussions continue as regards the business, trading has ceased at this time as there is no certainty that any sale can be achieved.”

A music industry insider said: “The days of stores like Music Zone are probably coming to an end with the rapid growth of online access to music and different ways of making a UK investment in the business.

“Famous record store Beanos in Croydon, south London, has also been a recent casualty of the sea change in the way people get their music. Just as vinyl discs have had their day, so have the retail outlets that started off selling them.”

 


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