Croxley bids farewell to Blockbuster

The axe has finally fallen on Croxley Green’s Blockbuster store after administrators for the DVD and games rental chain announced a raft of closures last month. Five people lost their jobs after the shop at 198 Watford Road closed its doors. Joint administrators Simon Thomas and Nick O’Reilly, of Moorfields Corporate Recovery LLP, said the closures were unavoidable as no acceptable offers had been found for the business. They added: “We are continuing to review the profitability of the portfolio and may have to make further closures over the next couple of weeks. We appreciate this is a difficult time for all concerned and would like to thank staff for their ongoing cooperation. In addition, we are making every effort to support customers and to date issued over 30,000 refunds for goods and services not received.” Roger Gagan is chief executive of the Watford and West Herts Chamber of Commerce. He said he had sympathy for those people who had lost their jobs. He said: “Blockbuster’s problems have been in the public domain for some time. They have been affected by people doing something in a different way now – this is not the way that people take their entertainment anymore. Businesses need to reinvent themselves or they run the risk of going out of business. These are the times we live in.” Despite Blockbuster’s issues, Mr Gagan said he believed things were on the up for the New Year. He explained: “All indications are that 2014 will be much better then 2013 and I’m much more confident than at this time last year. We are seeing some promising signs. The job situation has stabilised – people who have a job are more confident they will keep it. The property market is also on the move. Those people who have lost their jobs in Croxley Green have a much better chance of finding a job now then a year ago.”