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HMV boss to depart
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 2 August 2012
The boss of flagging entertainment retailer HMV is to step down, it has been announced.
Simon Fox has had a rocky ride at the top of the last surviving nationwide high street music seller. He began with bold plans to expand the HMV brand into other areas of music and entertainment, but cash issues and money-lender pressure forced that strategy to be more or less abandoned in favour of renewed concentration of the firm’s high street stores, even though it’s hard to see how mainstream entertainment retail on the high street has any long term future.
Nevertheless, Fox did manage to placate bankers enough to secure solid funding, albeit in the short-term, and he insists that after some streamlining the company could be back in profit by next year. We’ll see. By then the future of HMV will be the problem of former Jessops boss Trevor Moore, who will take over as CEO next month.
Confirming his departure, Fox said today: “I am proud to be leaving HMV with a profitable future secured. The appointment of Trevor Moore means that I will be leaving the company in safe hands”.
Meanwhile HMV Chairman Philip Rowley said: “I want to thank Simon for his contribution to HMV. He has led the company through a turbulent period for the entertainment retailing industry and has played an invaluable part in securing HMV’s future”.
