PMT (Play Music Today), the UK’s fourth-largest multi-channel musical instrument retailer, has been placed into administration – with the company’s 11 stores, online platform, and main warehouse in Liverpool closing with immediate effect.
According to Insider Media, there have been 96 redundancies, with 48 people retained to assist the administrators. While the directors reportedly sought to explore options, no viable solutions became available, forcing them to file for administration.
Similar to what happened to GAK – another UK-based retailer – the joint administrators sold the company’s assets, including the stock, to Gear4Music for an estimated cost value of up to £2.4 million ($3.26 million).
Rick Harrison, the managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, comments on the closure: “It’s been a tough few years for specialist music equipment retailers who have battled headwinds including rising costs, dwindling margins, and the rising cost of living affecting consumer behavior.
“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the board, in the case of PMT, these challenges proved too difficult to overcome.”
His statement continues, “While we are pleased to have concluded a sale of the stock and other assets to Gear4music, our immediate priority is to provide support to those employees who have been made redundant, including supporting them with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.”
PMT was founded in 1991, with the first store opening in Southend-on-Sea by Simon Gilson and Terry Hope under the holding company S&T. Over the years, it expanded across the UK and online, even acquiring Liverpool-based Dolphin Music in 2011 and Nevada Music in Portsmouth in 2016 as part of its growth strategy.
As per The Business Desk, the last set of published accounts to the end of April 2024 showed that the business achieved a revenue of £43 million ($58.4 million), compared to 2023's £47.1 million ($63.95 million) , and reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of £182,489 ($247,822), after making a loss of £574,133 ($779,685) in the previous tax year.
Gear4Music reported a 5% increase in its shares after acquiring PMT's assets. In a similar turn of events, the online musical instrument retail giant recently acquired GAK's stock and website for £2.4 million ($3.2 million at the time) back in April, after the company entered insolvency.
The worrying trend of music stores closing their shutters extends to mainland Europe and the States: Dutch retailer Bax Music recently filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations, while last year, American music institution Sam Ash closed all its stores.
