{"id":700576,"date":"2026-07-19T21:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/700576\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T21:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:58:13","slug":"retail-giant-with-bournemouth-and-poole-store-collapsed-owing-16m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/700576\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail giant with Bournemouth and Poole store collapsed owing \u00a316m"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n A report outlines the final standalone days of the firm<\/a> that once had 300 stores across the UK and also reveals creditors face losing \u00a312m after its collapse.\n<\/p>\n

\n Game Retail Limited, the game and console retailer which had stores around the country including in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch struggled in a changing market and with changing habits.\n<\/p>\n

\n A move towards digital and a tightening of the retail economy squeezed the business first into a 2011 administration<\/a>, and then, despite building back profitability, another collapse.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"Game\"\/High street retail giant collapsed into administration owing \u00a316m (Image: Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n

\n James Saunders and Lauren Wentworth, of KR8 Advisory, were appointed joint administrators in April, and now their report details the final efforts made to save the company.\n<\/p>\n

\n In the end, the company owed \u00a315.8m when it was placed into administration, including \u00a33.5m to the secured creditor and \u00a312m to unsecured creditors.\n<\/p>\n

\n The administrators told how the company was incorporated as Game Retail Limited after its acquisition in 2011.\n<\/p>\n

\n Read More:\n<\/p>\n

\n They said: \u201cThe Game brand was originally established in 1990 and developed into the UK\u2019s leading high street retailer of video games and consoles.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe company started trading in 2012 following the acquisition of the UK trade and assets of the former The Game Group Plc out of administration.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAt the point of acquisition, the business operated over 300 retail stores together with two e-commerce platforms under the Game and Gamestation brand names.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cFollowing the completion of the acquisition, the company consolidated its operations under the single Game brand and undertook a financial and operational review, which resulted in the closure of certain loss-making stores but included plans to open new stores.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Profitability<\/p>\n

\n The business subsequently returned to profitability but for the year ended July 2016, it reported a decline in revenue of 10% to \u00a3584 million and a drop in profit before tax of 71% to \u00a36.8m.\n<\/p>\n

\n By the following year, turnover was at \u00a3493m and the company was operating at a loss before tax of \u00a37.1m.\n<\/p>\n

\n The administrators said: \u201cMarket conditions remained difficult in the subsequent years driven by changes in consumer behaviour, including the transaction from physical games to digital downloads, uncertainty associated with Brexit, and increased competition within the sector.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Read More:\n<\/p>\n

\n By 2019 the loss had widened to \u00a343m and turnover was \u00a3423m, and after other efforts it was later agreed that shareholder Frasers Group would acquire the company\u2019s intellectual property for a cash consideration \u201cto support the ongoing business and make payment of outstanding rent due on the head office\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n The administrators said: \u201cDespite these efforts, the company\u2019s financial position continued to deteriorate during the final quarter of 2025, which historically had been one of the busiest trading months for the business.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere have been no major console releases since 2020, and large manufacturers have cited global chip shortages as a reason for further delays.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n At this stage the position of the physical product in the market would be set to change and we are now at digital-first launches. Concessions remain across the country after Frasers pivoted to keep the brand alive.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cHaving reviewed the company financial and operational position,\u201d the administrators said. \u201cIt was concluded that the business was no longer viable.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The administrators also said: \u201cThe secured creditor notified the board it was no longer in a position to support the ongoing funding of the company.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The administrators said it is \u201canticipated there may be sufficient realisations available to enable a distribution to be made to the secured creditor\u201d but added: \u201cIt is currently anticipated that there will be insufficient funds available to enable a distribution to be made to unsecured creditors, other than by way of the prescribed part.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A report outlines the final standalone days of the firm that once had 300 stores across the UK…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-700576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}