Redundancy risk at HMV warehouse in Guernsey

HMV will close its fulfilment warehouse in Guernsey putting 46 employees at risk of redundancy, it has announced.

The centre on Guelles Road, in St Peter Port, will close on 27 July.

It is consulting staff to discuss their options including redeployment opportunities, an HMV spokesman said.

He added the closure was because of an end to VAT relief and the lease for the property was due to expire later in the year.

The centre employees 46 full-time members of staff and 11 temporary people.

'Remain viable'

The announcement comes after the States lost its legal challenge against the scrapping of Low Value Consignment Relief earlier in March.

The UK High Court rejected suggestions by the States that scrapping the VAT relief would discriminate against the islands.

The relief means parcels valued at under £15 sent from non-European Union countries to the UK are not charged VAT, which is currently set at 20%.

It will cease to apply to the Channel Islands from 1 April.

The HMV spokesman said: "For our online offers to remain viable and attractive to shoppers in what will continue to be a highly competitive market, we need to seek greater business synergies and to further reduce our online operating costs.

"We have concluded that the only way we are able to realistically achieve this is by consolidating our internet fulfilment into a single site at our existing UK distribution centre in Merlin Park, Birmingham.

"This is not a decision we have taken lightly, particularly as we have enjoyed a productive relationship with Guernsey," he added.