Tag Archives: administration

New Infographic Gives The Grave Facts About Dying

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Dying is not something most of us want to think about. Problem is, it is unavoidable and not dealing with your affairs in advance can cause trouble for loved ones. While life insurance isn’t something that most would want to talk about, it’s rather important so those left behind won’t get into debt. Dealing with grief is hard enough, but according to this brilliant infographic which outlines the associated costs of funerals; 44% of people had to take out a credit card to pay for a loved ones funeral. Even worse, 27% had to resort to a payday loan. Having a child was the catalyst for myself getting my affairs in order, but this infographic shows that most of us are still woefully underprepared for the inevitable.

Assumptions don’t help either. Apparently 41% of people think that existing funds will cover their funeral costs, but the truth is that only 22% of people have the proper life insurance in place. Even more shocking is that only 32% of people have a will should something happen to them.

Over 50 life cover is important and helps to alleviate the financial strain that often comes with arranging a funeral, as letting those left behind know how you would like to be buried (or cremated), who you would like to leave your worldly goods to and any other last wishes. This funeral planning infographic from British Seniors Insurance Agency has lots of interesting statistics: average funeral costs are cheaper in Edinburgh and most expensive in Sheffield. Londoners are more likely to take out a credit card or payday loan, and Liverpool had the highest number of respondents wanting a religious ceremony. Different regions had different worries: Londoners were more likely to take out a credit card (40%) or a payday loan (39%) to pay for a funeral, while in Brighton 17% of people worried about future inheritance disputes among family members.

The thing about the costs are that they can catch you unaware. 31% of people said they did not know what costs to expect before  they started planning a funeral. If you are lucky enough to have never planned a funeral then you will be blissfully unaware how expensive they are. The average funeral in Edinburgh is £3,947, but the average cost reaches a dizzy £5,469 in Sheffield. Londoners meanwhile pay an average of £4,543. A staggering amount of money, even for the cheapest funeral, and one that relatives might struggle to pay for.

The infographic shows that being prepared is important, but some of the findings are interesting and amusing. When it comes to the send off, 55% wanted to be buried, 22% wished to be cremated and 20% remained uncertain. However, a staggering 70% of respondents over 55 wanted to be buried. A lot of people thought creatively when it came to their final resting place. Some wanted to be buried at their favourite sports ground, some wanted to be buried in a haunte

d house, others wanted to be buried near or in the sea, while some people wanted to be buried with their spouse or their dog. No mention of other pets though.

Check out the infographic by British Seniors Insurance Agency life insurance quote provider out for yourself. Hopefully it will spur you to get your affairs in order.

life insurance, over 50,

 

 

 

HMV’s slow digital response to blame for demise – Musicmetric chief

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HMV’s slow digital response was its undoing, says leading digital music expert

HMV confirmed the end of its three-year nose-dive into administration last night with the appointment of accountancy giant Deloitte. But its fate was sealed long ago by its slow response to the digital revolution, according to a leading digital expert.

The firm, which employs more than 4,000 people, ceased trading shares and issued a statement which said: “The board regrets to announce that it has been unable to reach a position where it feels able to continue to trade outside of insolvency protection, and in the circumstances therefore intends to file notice to appoint administrators to the company and certain of its subsidiaries with immediate effect. The directors of the company understand that it is the intention of the administrators, once appointed, to continue to trade whilst they seek a purchaser for the business.”

Gregory Mead, CEO of Musicmetric, the global music analysts, said:

“It’s a sad but inevitable fate for a much-loved stalwart of the music industry. But where retailers like John Lewis have embraced the internet – building customers through its Click and Collect service – HMV simply failed to adapt to the changing tastes of music fans and the seismic shift we’ve seen as everything has gone digital.

“While figures from the 2012 Digital Music Index showed file-sharing to be rife right across the UK, the upshot of this is that there are millions of fans accessing music each day. The challenge for retailers like HMV has been to find ways to tap into this – but you’d be hard pressed to be able to walk into an HMV store and buy songs directly on to your iPod.

“The changing face of music, and that digital technology has overhauled the way we interact with records, means that artists can engage directly with fans, meaning physical retailers have needed to evolve as well. While previously it was all about CD releases and the Sunday chart show, now the most important thing is knowing where your fanbase is and what drives them so you can market to them directly and maximise revenues from a myriad of sources.”

Investment capital firm set to salvage Game

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Following on from Junior Smart’s articles on Game Group going into administration, an announcement is expected from the investment group, Opcapita, that it is buying a large part of the troubled Game Group out of administration.

However many experts believe that the Game Group needs to change its approach in order to survive in this tough retail landscape.

Danny Jatania, a consumer champion and CEO and Chairman of Pockit, says, “If a company like Game is to survive, it’s imperative for it to adapt and innovate to consumer spending patterns. Currently the high street is going through a major evolution as a result of consumers using the huge savings offered by the online retailers to purchase goods. Game will have to completely rethink its strategy and will need to work in harmony with this growing trend.”

Danny concludes, “More and more retailers are using deals, vouchers, in-store and online cashback, in the face of a fiercely competitive retail environment. It is important for retailers to extend these deals to the high street to increase foot fall as part of their growth plans.”

Game Over for Game – But why?

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Right now if you visit GAME’s official website  you’ll find it “down for maintenance” with a message explaining the company’s gone into administration, who’s been appointed to handle the process and a disclaimer that the company is “currently reviewing and processing orders placed on this website.”

Why is a huge question – right now many of the company’s employees are asking the very same question and with good reason – Game is a games retail giant – or at least it was. Their failure is probably the biggest British retail collapse since Woolworths when its 815 stores went under at the end of 2008.

So what went wrong for Game? Well, depending on what sources you read you get different viewpoints. Here is my take on reasons why they could have gone under.

Sky High Prices

Ask any gamer why Game has struggled and they’ll point to one fact: high prices. Game products always had a higher price tag to their competitors. If you think about Amazon and Play.com, they regularly shave a good £10 off of launch day prices. One could argue that with Game you are guaranteed the game before its release date but really who cares when you could be paying as much as £50 a pop.

Shoddy service

I remember the days when I would order from Game and get the game about two days before the release however, when they changed the website the service changed too. It was clunky and difficult to navigate, games would take an age to arrive, orders might go missing etc. Try and complain and you would be told to wait at least 20 days to see if the game would turn up. It’s enough to make you want to hurl your controller.

Better alternatives

Game made the majority of their profit from those looking to trade in their old titles. This was a fine move; some would even say inspired. However they made enemies out of the software giants who wanted more of a cut. Ever wondered why nearly all games require you to purchase an online pass in order to play your pre-owned game online? That is the games company trying to reap more cash from the pre-owned market which arguably Game helped to build. However it was these same enemies who promptly decided to turn their backs when Game was calling out for help like a little baby. Have these enemies pull out the big titles from Games shelves, Fling in a couple of rivals like CEX, and Game was on a slippery path.

Non PC Support

Head into a GAME store and you will see the scarcity of space dedicated to PC gaming. They simply just don’t really cater for PC owners – it’s ridiculous considering that they’re the single dedicated high-street gaming retailer and should be the first physical port of call for all gamers regardless of platform. What’s more nearly all of the titles released that have had a huge impact such as Minecraft and Skyrim, were PC based first and all but the exclusive console games such as Uncharted reach the PC platform eventually.

New Digital Distribution Methods

As fast broadband connectivity continues to spread across the nation, so too does the prevalence of digital download platforms for all sorts of media. Gaming is no different. The Xbox 360 has the Xbox Live Arcade; the PlayStation 3 has the Sony Entertainment Network; the Nintendo Wii has the Wii Shop Channel; PC gamers look to Steam and Gamefly. Some sources have said that the next generation of consoles will not be disc based but Sony have spoken out directly in contradiction to this because of inconsistencies in Broadband quality which means that to take this leap could cut many consumers out of the loop which in turn would effect sales.

Mobile Gaming Is On The Rise

One of the reasons Game could have fallen so badly is the rise of mobile gaming. Whether you have an Android, Windows Phone 7 iPad or iPod touch owner, chances are you’ve got access to more than a few games at your disposal.  As the quality of mobile technology gets greater so does the graphics and so does the gameplay. Right now some people are so addicted to Angry birds that they are writing songs about it – and…erm less interested in Sonic or pesky plumbers and whats more these titles are just a download away – meaning Game cannot make any profit from these sales.

Lack of Passion

In the words of my manager – when the passion is gone, it is time to move on. I have spoken to many gamers since I heard the news about Game – and guess what? Many of them weren’t at all surprised. One lad told me ‘If you go into HMV, there is theatre, excitement, things are fxxxing happening- you go into Game, and sure you can talk to them about games, but the shops are cramped, you cant really play the games and they are not really into it!’ Well, I cant really say any more than that.

We’re All In This Together

Yes – we have heard those words before haven’t we? This may seem like an obvious point but it is a true one. We’re in the middle of a recession, and everyone has less cash to spend on luxuries, which videogames ultimately are. If it’s a choice between a meal and rent payments or a PS3, it’s pretty obvious which choice people are going to make.

Game – The High Street Games Retailer Goes into Administration

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The high street games retailer Game fell headlong into administration today leaving thousands of high street workers faced with losing their jobs and millions of pounds still outstanding to its debtors.

The group, which has 609 stores and 6,000 staff in the UK, has effectively run out of cash and rumour has it that it was unable to meet even its basic rent and wage payments which were due this week.

Staff took to technology websites and forums to express their anger and disappointment at what one called a ’horrible situation’.

The difficulties experienced by Game are testament to the current ‘age of austerity’ marking a squeeze on living costs and a change in shopping habits and games technology. Additionally no further consoles have been released of late so some pundits have pointed at the lack any new technology to get games players excited and into shops.

The retailer had a £21m rent bill due last Sunday and faces an eye watering £12m wage bill this weekend. It is estimated that another £40million owed to suppliers and £10m in VAT seems unlikely be paid.

Administrators said the stores would remain open as it attempts to find a buyer for the business as a growing concern. It seems certain that hundreds of stores will go and thousands of employees will be out of work within weeks.

While the bulk of the Game business is in the UK, with 609 stores and 6,000 staff, there are around 700 other outlets and 7,000 staff in sister chains overseas.

The fate of the company is now in the hands of administrators at PwC. Speaking to the press today – Mike Jervis, joint administrator and partner at PwC, suggested the firm had ‘simply run out of cash’.

Mr Jervis said: ‘The group has faced serious cash-flow and profit issues over the recent past. It also has suffered from high fixed costs, an ambitious international roll-out and fluctuating working capital requirements.’

Poor sales at Christmas led the games giant to signal that losses for the year to the end of January were likely to be around £18million.

However, Mr Jervis insisted there is still demand for a mainstream high street computer games retailer.

‘We believe that there is room for a specialist game retailer in the territories in which it operates, including its biggest one, the UK,’ he said.

‘As a result we are hopeful that a going concern sale of the business is achievable.’

It is understood that the latest financial crisis was triggered when one of Game’s main lenders, the taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, objected to the terms of a rescue deal with private equity firm OpCapita, which recently bought electrical goods retailer Comet.

Game has suffered dire trading in recent months, which forced it to ask suppliers for more generous trading terms. However, several responded by deciding to protect themselves by refusing to supply the retailer with any new releases, such as Mass Effect 3 and Street Fighter X Tekken.

The group has also been battered by competition from cheaper rivals on the internet, such as Amazon and Play.com, and the major supermarkets.

Separately, many people now download game Apps direct to tablets or smart phones, rather than buying software to be loaded in to consoles like the PlayStation, xBox on Nintendo Wii.

If you visit Games’s official website  you’ll find it “down for maintenance” with a message explaining the company’s gone into administration, who’s been appointed to handle the process and a disclaimer that the company is “currently reviewing and processing orders placed on this website.”

The failure represents the biggest British retail collapse since Woolworths and its 815 stores went under at the end of 2008.