Zavvi appoints Ernst & Young administrators

Administrators from Ernst & Young have been appointed to entertainment retailer Zavvi.

Tom Jack, Simon Allport and Alan Hudson were appointed joint administrators for the UK's largest indepedendent entertainment business.

The adminstration is another blow to the high street, with both Whittard and The Officers Club sold on after administration in the last 24 hours. Woolworths is set to close for good, while MFI has already collapsed.

Begbies Traynor's Nick Hood has predicted as many as 15 major retailers could enter insolvency proceedings around the Christmas period.

Zavvi operates out of 125 stores in the UK and Ireland, employing 2,363 permanent staff and 1,052 temps. It was formed from a management buyout of Virgin Megastores in September 2007.

The retailer has struggled to bring in new stock after Woolworths' stock supplier arm Entertainment UK entered administration.

'Since EUK went into administration, and perhaps before, the impact of problems at EUK on the Zavvi Group has been significant. Minimal deliveries, no returns and worse trading terms are just some of the areas impacted,' said Jack.

'In the absence of a buyer for EUK, and with dire trading conditions on the high street, the Zavvi Group has seen a material fall in sales and the directors have now been forced to place parts of the group into administration.

The administrators intend to sell all or part of the business as a going concern. The stores will open as normal on Boxing Day.

'We would like to thank all of our employees for their commitment and support since the launch of Zavvi,' said joint founders Simon Douglas and Steve Peckham.

'We have done all that is possible to keep the business trading, but the problems encountered with EUK, and particularly its recent failure, has been too much for the business to cope with.'

Further reading:

15 major retailers could go bust after Xmas

Whittard and Officers Club sold in pre-packs