Brighton jobs at risk as HMV follows Jessops into administration

Shop jobs at Churchill Square in Brighton are at risk after HMV went into administration this evening (Monday 14 January).

Jessops, the camera chain which had a shop in Queen’s Road, Brighton, went into administration last Wednesday (9 January) and closed two days later.

Deloitte, the accountancy firm that is dealing with HMV, is trying to find a buyer for the business.

The company blamed poor sales in the run up to Christmas. And once again the trend towards downloading, shopping online and using digital technology instead of buying CDs and DVDs has been blamed.

Some have suggested though that a succession of takeovers had left the company in a precarious financial position.

About 20 jobs at HMV are thought to be at risk with about 10 jobs lost at Jessops last week.

Other local jobs were lost when the Comet store in Hove shut last month and the Comet shop in Brighton shut in November. JJB Sports also went bust at the end of the year.

In the music market Rounder Records, in Brighton, closed last year. Borders closed its Churchill Square branch at the end of 2009, the same year that Zavvi closed the Churchill Square store that it bought from Virgin.

The premises are still empty, as are those next door, formerly occupied by Habitat. And Woolworths shut its Western Road store in Brighton at the end of December 2008, a week before the chain stopped trading altogether.