HMV Peterborough staff who lost their jobs hopeful store will re-open

Megan Seekings and store manager Kathryn Jeffs at the former HMV outlet in Queensgate

It was announced last Tuesday that the Queensgate branch was one of 27 to shut despite the well-known chain being rescued from administration by the Canadian company Sunrise Records.

Among the 14 people to lose their jobs in Peterborough were staff who had been there for 20 years, some of whom are now struggling financially due to the sudden loss of income.

However, there is renewed hope that the store will reopen after an interview in The Guardian with Doug Putman, the boss of Sunrise Records, who said he is in talks with landlords of the 27 outlets which closed down.

In addition, the former staff at the Queensgate store have been inspired after a branch of the Fopp record shop chain in Glasgow was saved from closure after an outcry from customers and musicians.

Music lover Megan Seekings (22) from Eye had loved being a sales assistant at HMV since starting in September 2017.

And despite news of the chain’s financial struggles being well documented, hearing she was being made redundant after the company was taken over came as quite a shock.

She said: “We were devastated about it.

“The first few days took a lot out of me, but now we are a little bit hopeful. We’re trying to rally some support.

“Everyone has known about the situation of the company for the last month or so. The company was bought but we didn’t imagine we would be one of the 27 stores which closed.

“We had a conference call at 9am on the Tuesday and were told we’d not been saved.

“Suddenly 14 of us were jobless, the store was closed and we couldn’t even tell those customers who are in the store every single day - the regulars.”

Staff are now seeking new employment to help them pay their bills, but there remains hope that they will return to Queensgate as they try to drum up support online.

A Facebook group has now been set up, and people are trying to spread the word on Twitter by tweeting #SaveHMVPeterborough.

“There’s no harm in trying,” added Megan. “It has worked in Glasgow, and we do love it there so we will try our best to get the store reopened.”

Queensgate declined to comment when approached by the Peterborough Telegraph.

You can read Megan’s blog about her time at HMV here.