Oxford News
High street retailer Game falls into administration
Game Retail Limited, the video games retailer that once had more than 300 stores nationwide, fell into administration earlier this year.
A report from joint administrators James Saunders and Lauren Wentworth of KR8 Advisory revealed that, of the £15.8 million total debt, £3.5 million is owed to a secured creditor and around £12 million is owed to unsecured creditors.
Administrators have been appointed for a second time, with the company’s 2011 administration, The Herald exclusively revealed.
The administrators said: “The Game brand was originally established in 1990 and developed into the UK’s leading high street retailer of video games and consoles.
“The company started trading in 2012 following the acquisition of the UK trade and assets of the former The Game Group Plc out of administration.
“At the point of acquisition, the business operated over 300 retail stores together with two e-commerce platforms under the Game and Gamestation brand names.
“Following 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.”
Despite a period of renewed profitability, the company was unable to adapt to long-term changes in consumer behaviour and the broader retail landscape.
Administrators pointed to the industry’s shift from physical games to digital downloads, ongoing Brexit uncertainty, and mounting competition as key challenges.
Financial results highlight this decline.
What happens when a company goes into administration?
In the year ending July 2016, Game reported revenue of £584 million -a 10% drop on the previous year – while profit before tax fell 71% to £6.8 million.
By 2017, the company was operating at a loss before tax of £7.1 million on turnover of £493 million.
The financial outlook continued to darken.
By 2019, Game had posted a loss of £43 million on turnover of £423 million.
In a bid to stabilise the business, shareholder Frasers Group later agreed to acquire the company’s intellectual property for a cash sum “to support the ongoing business and make payment of outstanding rent due on the head office”.
However, the move was not enough to turn things around.
The administrators said: “Despite these efforts, the company’s financial position continued to deteriorate during the final quarter of 2025, which historically had been one of the busiest trading months for the business.
“There have been no major console releases since 2020, and large manufacturers have cited global chip shortages as a reason for further delays.”
UK high street shops that no longer exist
The business model, once reliant on physical game and console releases, was unable to pivot effectively to the digital-first landscape now favoured by manufacturers and consumers alike.
Game Retail Limited was ultimately placed into administration.
The administrators said after reviewing the company’s financial and operational position, “the business was no longer viable.”
The company’s secured creditor also withdrew financial support, sealing its fate.
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Administrators now estimate that there may be “sufficient realisations available to enable a distribution to be made to the secured creditor.”
However, they said: “It 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.”
Some concessions remain operational as part of Frasers Group’s efforts to preserve elements of the Game brand.
Which high street retailer do you miss the most? Tell us in the comments below.
Detectives are continuing to investigate any possible political or terrorist motivation for the murder of Ms Widdecombe after a 28-year-old man was charged with the killing.
Joshua Kerry, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with murder, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
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He was first arrested on July 11, two days after the 78-year-old Reform UK spokeswoman was found dead at her home in Devon.
Speaking outside New Scotland Yard on Monday, head of UK Counter-Terrorism Policing Laurence Taylor said: “I want to make it very clear that our investigation into this individual, determining his motivations and any wider activity he may have been involved in is continuing.
“Given Ann Widdecombe’s profile and the targeted nature of the attack, determining the motivation, including any possible political motivation, remains an active avenue of investigation for our detectives.”
He said that detectives are working through more than 800 lines of inquiry, and asked for time for investigators to carry out the work.
Two days after he was arrested for murder, Kerry was additionally arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, but has not been charged with this offence.
Frank Ferguson, chief crown prosecutor of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “We have decided to prosecute Joshua Kerry for murder following a police investigation into the death of Ann Widdecombe in Haytor, Dartmoor.
“Police inquiries into the defendant’s motives are ongoing, including a potential political or terrorist connection.”
Miss Widdecombe was first elected as a Conservative MP in Kent in 1987, and went on to become an MEP for the Brexit Party and then a spokeswoman for Reform UK.
She also found fame outside politics after starring in Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother.
Ms Widdecombe read Latin at Birmingham University before studying philosophy, politics and economics at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, where she was involved in the Oxford Union.
While there she had embarked on a three-year romance, ending it in order to focus on her career.
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Otherwise she claimed to have no interest in sex, and never married.
Tributes were paid to her by figures across the political spectrum after her death, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling her “one of those rare politicians who was bigger than politics”.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for a serious review of MPs’ safety after she died, and Mr Taylor said officers are working with parliamentary officials to make politicians aware of protection measures that are in place.
Window on Wallingford has been ‘at the heart’ of the South Oxfordshire town since 1962, sharing news and information on what’s going with locals for free.
Run solely by volunteers, support dwindled in recent years, and by February the production of the monthly magazine had fallen on the shoulders of a single person.
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The lack of a magazine for the past six months led a group of volunteers to organise themselves into a new committee, promising to relaunch the valued resource beginning with a fundraising campaign to get it off the ground.
One of the volunteers, internal communications manager Dean Valler, 48, said the group plans to bring a ‘vibrant new look and feel’ to the newsletter.
H said: ‘We are not short on inspiration living in a town with so much going on and so many aspects of life to highlight and are all energised by the prospect of once again seeing Window on Wallingford hot off the press and informing everyone.
“Plus, we have our mascot, Wowly, for people to keep an eye out for.
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“First, though, we are looking for people’s support to get behind this.
“We are a small group of enthusiastic volunteers, happy to work for free, and would appreciate anything anyone can give to cover the costs of producing our first issue and making our ambition a reality, for the benefit of everyone in Wallingford.”
They’re hoping to raise £1,500 to get it back up and running, and are being supported by Wallingford for All CIC.
On July 16, Will Boucher-Giles stepped down from the authority, leaving the Lib Dem administration without a majority on the council weeks after it had regained control.
The former representative for Chesterton and Launton has left his role “due to a family move to Switzerland”, a Lib Dem spokesperson has confirmed.
The party will continue to run the county council in a minority as they did after councillors Ben Higgins and Nick Cotter left the party in quick succession – this could mean it will have to seek support from other parties to pass its policies.
Mr Higgins has since re-joined the Lib Dems, restoring its majority for just under a month until Mr Boucher-Giles’ departure.
Lib Dem council leader Tim Bearder had said Mr Higgins’ return was “providing stability so that we can get on with the job” of running the county.
On the latest departure, Conservative county leader and West Oxfordshire councillor Liam Walker said: “Oxfordshire deserves better than the chaos we’ve seen over recent months.
“Most importantly, the residents of the Chesterton and Launton division deserve strong, consistent representation.
“Instead, they’ve been taken for granted by the Liberal Democrats.”
A by-election is set to take place, and a party spokesperson said the Oxfordshire Lib Dems hope to take back their majority at the county council with “an opportunity to campaign on their record, which includes delivering safer roads in local villages and record investment in county council services”.
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