Entertainment UK
Encyclopedia
Entertainment UK Limited (EUK) was a retail supply and distribution company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Woolworths Group plc. The company, along with Woolworths plc, entered administration with Deloitte & Touche on 28 November 2008. EUK claimed to have had a turnover in excess of £1.4 billion per annum, and over 160,000 lines of products.
. In 1988, Record Merchandisers Limited changed its name to Entertainment UK (EUK).
EUK became the property of Woolworths Group plc after the demerger from parent company, the Kingfisher Group in 2001. In 2006, the Woolworths Group acquired Total Home Entertainment Distribution Limited (THE) to form part of Entertainment UK (EUK) division. In November 2007 EUK acquired Bertram Books
, a major book wholesaler and distributor.
based in Eastbourne, East Sussex visited Entertainment UK's Greenford
Auriol Drive site for talks about a possible purchase of the lease to the automated warehouse, and at one point it was believed that a deal totalling £1,500,000 was struck to purchase the lease, but this subsequently was proved unfounded as at the same time Tesco
had on 22 January applied for planning permission to develop the site.
Following a number of "active discussions" with prospective suitors of Bertram Books
, the administrators announced the sale of the company to Smiths News
.
The Entertainment UK business remains in administration and unsold.
in 2007. Other notable customers included Morrisons
, Sainsburys, WH Smith, as well as the Borders UK entertainment back catalogue, and formerly Tesco
. It also ran two Amazon Marketplace
stores on Amazon.co.uk; "market plus", run by the offshore
subsidiary Entertainment Plus (Guernsey) Ltd, and "direct-offers", the UK based stock clearance arm of Entertainment UK.
EUK was the main supplier of Zavvi under an exclusive supply deal. As a result of EUK entering into administration, on 24 December 2008 the Music and DVD retailer was also forced into administration as it was unable to source stock on favourable terms direct from suppliers.
History
Entertainment UK was founded, originally as Record Merchandisers Limited in 1966 by EMI Records, to distribute music to non-specialist retailers, and subsequently became a joint venture between a number of record companies. Woolworths became Entertainment UK's largest customer and in 1986 Record Merchandisers Limited was acquired by the Kingfisher GroupKingfisher plc
Kingfisher plc is a multinational retailing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest home improvement retailer in Europe and the third-largest in the world...
. In 1988, Record Merchandisers Limited changed its name to Entertainment UK (EUK).
EUK became the property of Woolworths Group plc after the demerger from parent company, the Kingfisher Group in 2001. In 2006, the Woolworths Group acquired Total Home Entertainment Distribution Limited (THE) to form part of Entertainment UK (EUK) division. In November 2007 EUK acquired Bertram Books
Bertram books
Bertram Books is the UK’s leading book wholesaler having grown from a family business to a global organisation employing over of 400 staff. A division of Smiths News Plc, the UK’s largest news and magazine distributor, Bertrams is a three times winner of the British Book Award for Supply Chain...
, a major book wholesaler and distributor.
Administration
EUK was the most profitable arm of the Woolworths Group and it was this portion of the business that the management hoped to retain when it attempted to divest itself of its retail arm and its liabilities. However, with the failure of the restructuring talks EUK went into administration with its parent company on the 28 November and immediately stopped deliveries. On 12 December 2008, 700 staff were made redundant. EUK is continuing to operate with a reduced workforce of 375. On 14 January 2009, Deloitte announced a further reduction of 134 employees across all 4 of EUK's remaining sites, and is continuing in its efforts to sell any remaining stock within the warehouses in order to service the debt.Prospective Buyers
On 13 March 2009, Gardners BooksGardners Books
Gardners Books is the largest book wholesaler in the United Kingdom. Based in Eastbourne, East Sussex, Gardners supplies books to a number of British retailers including Waterstone's, Tesco.com Books, TheHut.com, The Book Depository, Play.com and WHSmith...
based in Eastbourne, East Sussex visited Entertainment UK's Greenford
Greenford
Greenford is a large suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, UK. It was historically an ancient parish in the former county of Middlesex. The most prominent landmarks in the suburb are the A40, a major dual-carriageway; Horsenden Hill, above sea level; the small Parish Church of...
Auriol Drive site for talks about a possible purchase of the lease to the automated warehouse, and at one point it was believed that a deal totalling £1,500,000 was struck to purchase the lease, but this subsequently was proved unfounded as at the same time Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
had on 22 January applied for planning permission to develop the site.
Following a number of "active discussions" with prospective suitors of Bertram Books
Bertram books
Bertram Books is the UK’s leading book wholesaler having grown from a family business to a global organisation employing over of 400 staff. A division of Smiths News Plc, the UK’s largest news and magazine distributor, Bertrams is a three times winner of the British Book Award for Supply Chain...
, the administrators announced the sale of the company to Smiths News
Smiths News
Smiths News plc is a British newspaper and magazine distributor, based in Swindon, England. The company, previously known as 'WHSmith News' was created on 1 September 2006 from the demerger of WH Smith plc ....
.
The Entertainment UK business remains in administration and unsold.
Awards & Acclaims
In 2005 and 2006, Entertainment UK was given 'The European Supply Chain Excellence' and 'The Global Retail Technology Forum' awards respectively in addition to the 'Best Retail Buying Team' at 2006 MCV Industry Excellence Awards.Operations
Entertainment UK supplied many major retailers and signed new partnerships with Zavvi (formerly Virgin Megastores) and AsdaAsda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
in 2007. Other notable customers included Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
, Sainsburys, WH Smith, as well as the Borders UK entertainment back catalogue, and formerly Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
. It also ran two Amazon Marketplace
Amazon Marketplace
Amazon Marketplace is Amazon.com's fixed-price online marketplace that allows sellers to offer new and used items alongside Amazon's offerings, and customers to buy those items directly from the third party sellers using amazon.com's infrastructure....
stores on Amazon.co.uk; "market plus", run by the offshore
Offshoring
Offshoring describes the relocation by a company of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Even state governments employ offshoring...
subsidiary Entertainment Plus (Guernsey) Ltd, and "direct-offers", the UK based stock clearance arm of Entertainment UK.
EUK was the main supplier of Zavvi under an exclusive supply deal. As a result of EUK entering into administration, on 24 December 2008 the Music and DVD retailer was also forced into administration as it was unable to source stock on favourable terms direct from suppliers.
External links
- Entertainment UK (Defunct)