HMV hopes to protect jobs

Retailer HMV has vowed to do all it can to protect the jobs of those who will be affected by the 60 store closures announced yesterday.

The company will close the outlets – which includes the closure of 20 Warterstones stores – by the end of the year.

"We will look to redeploy any affected staff where we possibly can," head of press and PR Gennaro Castaldo told MCV.

"This move in no way signals any intention to pull out of entertainment retail, which remains at the heart of our offer, and is ultimately aimed at safeguarding our core business as we continue our transformation into a broad-based entertainment brand that now also encompasses live music venues and festivals.

"We are actually talking about a relatively small number of stores across HMV and Waterstone’s chains. That’s less than 10 per cent of our combined estates, which are likely to be located primarily in large-city conurbations and may be in close proximity to each other – thus resulting in a degree of duplication in relation to local demand.

"The vast majority of HMV stores around the country will not be affected, and we will look to ensure that the specialist offer and service that we make available to our customers in these locations is maintained."