HMV to accept gift vouchers

HMV’s joint administrators have confirmed that gift cards can now be redeemed at stores from today.

Despite refusing to honour vouchers in previous weeks, Deloitte have now said it will honour the vouchers after a more positive assessment of HMV’s financial position.

The accountancy firm also said that proceeds raised by the entertainment retailer from charity releases, such as the Hillsborough Justice Collective single, will be paid in full as soon as possible.

Joint Administrator Nick Edwards recognised that the gift cards and charity revenue issues have “caused concern” for both consumers and organisations since HMV slipped into administration last week.

“We recognise that both of these matters have caused concern for individuals and organisations affected and are pleased to have reached a positive outcome,” he said in a statement.

“We will continue to assess the longer term options for the business whilst continuing to trade. I am hopeful this process will result in the business continuing as a going concern.”

HMV appointed Deloitte as administrator for the business late on January 14, putting at risk more than 4,000 jobs in the UK.

Deloitte has kept many HMV stores open while it searches for a buyer, but shut down the HMV website and also temporarily stopped issuing and accepting gift vouchers.

This led to an angry reaction from some consumers, including an incident last Tuesday (January 15) where two customers refused to leave an HMV store in Oxford after insisting that the chain should honour their vouchers.

Various newspaper reports have said that an industry consortium, including music labels Universal Music and Sony, favour Hilco to rescue the HMV chain.

Hilco already owns the HMV Canada chain, but Deloitte has said that there are 50 separate groups or individuals who have expressed interest in buying all or part of HMV, which accounts for a quarter of all physical entertainment sales in the UK.