East Anglia: All remaining Blockbuster stores to close with loss of 808 more jobs

All the remaining branches of DVD chain Blockbuster are to close within the next four days, with its administrators still unable to find a buyer for the business.

Joint administrators Simon Thomas and Nick O’Reilly of Moorfields Corporate Recovery said the 91 stores still trading would all close by the end of Monday, December 16, with the loss of 808 jobs.

Six Blockbuster stores in East Anglia, with a total of 50 employees between them, are among those which have continued to trade until now.

The Felixstowe store (which has a workforce of seven) will close tomorrow, those in Newmarket (which has nine employees) and Chelmsford (also nine) will close on Saturday, and the branches in Colchester (11), Lowestoft (eight) and Ely (six) will all close on Sunday.

“It is with regret that we have to make today’s announcement; we appreciate this is a difficult time for all concerned and would like to thank staff for their professionalism and support over the past month,” they said.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a buyer for the group as a going concern and as a result had to take the regrettable action to close the remaining stores.”

All remaining stock will now be sold off, with discounts of up to 90%.

Blockbuster was placed into administration in January earlier this year, but rescued by Gordon Brothers who purchased 264 stores, out of an original total of 528, in March 2013.

Today’s announcement brings the total number of joblosses under the current administration to nearly 1,900. Within East Anglia, branches in Ipswich, Mildenhall, Clacton-on-Sea, Halstead, Braintree and Witham are among those already closed.

To support employees affected by the store closures, Moorfields is listing job vacancies for a number of leading retailers on its website at www.moorfieldscr.com/blockbuster/retail-vacancies.