Latest news with #Gear4music
The Sun
21-04-2025
- Business
- The Sun
One of UK's biggest music chains suddenly collapses into administration with staff left ‘hung out to dry'
ONE of the UK's biggest music chains has suddenly collapsed into administration - as employees say they've been "hung out to dry". The leading musical instrument shop filed for insolvency on April 15 after swirling rumours among staff about the future of the business. 1 Gak Music Emporium in Brighton shut up shop on March 25 after its stock and website were reportedly bought by an online retailer for £2.4million. Eagle-eyed customers noticed the site was down earlier this month, with a message saying it was "currently unavailable". Online shoppers are now being redirected to Gear4music, a musical instruments and equipment retailer. The firm has reportedly purchased over a million pounds worth of stock together with assets including websites and trademarks. According to Connor, a musical technician at the store, employees were left in the dark for weeks leading up to being let go. He said staff had been "hung out to dry" with many made redundant on April 7. He told the Argus: 'We were hung out to dry. On Friday [March 28], they emailed saying 'still no investors, but we'll update you on Monday'. 'On Monday we were told there were still no investors. We were told we were employed all this time, so it was very confusing for staff.' The musical buff said he's resorted to posting flyers on the closed shop front advertising his services in a bid to secure some work. A spokeswoman for Gear4music said: "The company has entered insolvency and appointed an insolvency practitioner. "Its assets, including stock, branding, and websites, have been sold to "The original company, however, still legally exists and remains responsible for its liabilities, but may not have funds to meet them." This comes just weeks after an iconic music shop that had been in business for almost 50 years was forced to close. The family-owned store, which started as an organ shop, had been plagued by long-term parking issues. Intasound first launched on Narborough Road, Leicester, in 1976 and was the town's last remaining independent music store. Lloyd Wright and his brother Alex took over the business after their dad, Malcolm, retired. But the brothers say the lack of parking had been a huge issue and was impacting sales. Lloyd told Leicestershire Live said: "Regular feedback is about parking not being available, if you're buying a large piece and having to park three roads down, it's just not practical.' Why are retailers closing shops? EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre's decline. The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors. In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping. Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed. The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing. Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns. Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead. In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few. What's increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online. They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK Exchange: Promising Penny Stocks To Watch In January 2025
The United Kingdom's stock market has recently faced challenges, with the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices experiencing declines due to weak trade data from China, impacting companies heavily reliant on Chinese demand. Despite these broader market pressures, investors continue to seek opportunities in lesser-known segments like penny stocks. Although the term "penny stocks" might seem outdated, it still refers to smaller or newer companies that can offer significant growth potential when backed by solid financials. Name Share Price Market Cap Financial Health Rating ME Group International (LSE:MEGP) £2.07 £780M ★★★★★★ Begbies Traynor Group (AIM:BEG) £0.934 £148.85M ★★★★★★ Foresight Group Holdings (LSE:FSG) £3.71 £432.46M ★★★★★★ Stelrad Group (LSE:SRAD) £1.42 £180.84M ★★★★★☆ Next 15 Group (AIM:NFG) £3.45 £343.12M ★★★★☆☆ Secure Trust Bank (LSE:STB) £4.48 £85.44M ★★★★☆☆ Ultimate Products (LSE:ULTP) £1.065 £90.69M ★★★★★★ Tristel (AIM:TSTL) £3.825 £182.42M ★★★★★★ Luceco (LSE:LUCE) £1.384 £213.45M ★★★★★☆ Helios Underwriting (AIM:HUW) £2.08 £148.39M ★★★★★☆ Click here to see the full list of 445 stocks from our UK Penny Stocks screener. Underneath we present a selection of stocks filtered out by our screen. Simply Wall St Financial Health Rating: ★★★★★☆ Overview: Gear4music (Holdings) plc is a retailer of musical instruments and equipment operating in the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally with a market cap of £31.99 million. Operations: The company's revenue segment consists of £143.49 million from the sale of musical instruments and equipment. Market Cap: £31.99M Gear4music (Holdings) plc, with a market cap of £31.99 million, has recently turned profitable, although its earnings have declined significantly over the past five years. The company reported half-year sales of £61.74 million and a reduced net loss compared to the previous year. Despite having satisfactory debt levels and short-term assets exceeding liabilities, its interest coverage is weak at 1.6 times EBIT, and return on equity remains low at 2.6%. A large one-off gain impacted recent financial results, while revenue is forecasted to grow modestly by 6.48% per year moving forward. Take a closer look at Gear4music (Holdings)'s potential here in our financial health report. Learn about Gear4music (Holdings)'s future growth trajectory here. Simply Wall St Financial Health Rating: ★★★★☆☆ Overview: Zinnwald Lithium Plc is a mineral exploration and development company operating in the United Kingdom and Germany, with a market cap of £36.78 million. Operations: Currently, the company does not report any revenue segments. Market Cap: £36.78M Zinnwald Lithium Plc, with a market cap of £36.78 million, is currently pre-revenue and unprofitable, making it challenging to assess its financial health solely on earnings. The company is debt-free and has not diluted shareholders over the past year, which can be seen as positive aspects for investors concerned about equity value preservation. However, Zinnwald faces a cash runway of less than one year if current cash flow trends persist. Despite these challenges, the management team and board are experienced with average tenures of 3.4 and 6.6 years respectively, which may provide stability during growth phases. Unlock comprehensive insights into our analysis of Zinnwald Lithium stock in this financial health report. Evaluate Zinnwald Lithium's prospects by accessing our earnings growth report. Simply Wall St Financial Health Rating: ★★★★★☆ Overview: AO World plc, along with its subsidiaries, operates as an online retailer of domestic appliances and ancillary services in the United Kingdom and Germany, with a market capitalization of £560.20 million. Operations: The company generates £1.07 billion in revenue from its online retailing of domestic appliances and ancillary services. Market Cap: £560.2M AO World plc, with a market cap of £560.20 million, has shown financial resilience despite recent challenges. The company's debt to equity ratio has significantly decreased over the past five years, and it maintains more cash than total debt, indicating strong fiscal management. Short-term assets exceed long-term liabilities; however, they fall short of covering all short-term liabilities. Recent earnings reports show improved sales and net income compared to last year, with a revised guidance projecting revenue growth exceeding 10% in B2C Retail for 2024. Despite these positives, AO's Return on Equity remains low at 18.6%. Click here and access our complete financial health analysis report to understand the dynamics of AO World. Examine AO World's earnings growth report to understand how analysts expect it to perform. Unlock our comprehensive list of 445 UK Penny Stocks by clicking here. Have a stake in these businesses? Integrate your holdings into Simply Wall St's portfolio for notifications and detailed stock reports. Take control of your financial future using Simply Wall St, offering free, in-depth knowledge of international markets to every investor. Explore high-performing small cap companies that haven't yet garnered significant analyst attention. Jump on the AI train with fast growing tech companies forging a new era of innovation. Find companies with promising cash flow potential yet trading below their fair value. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include AIM:G4M AIM:ZNWD and LSE:AO.. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@ Sign in to access your portfolio
