3 days Ago
A former employee has described being “hung out to dry” as a landmark music shop officially went into administration. Gak Music Emporium, one of the country’s leading musical instrument shops, filed for insolvency on April 15 - ending weeks of speculation about the business' future. Standing for Guitar, Amp and Keyboard, the North Laine shop has been closed since Tuesday, March 25.
Gak initially said it was 'closed due to maintenance' (Image: The Argus) For weeks, speculation has been swirling online about the future of the Brighton institution. The owners of the business have not responded when approached for comment by The Argus. Connor Wyatt joined Gak in 2022 as a sales assistant but also worked as a guitar technician.
On Monday, March 24, there were rumours going around among staff about the future of the business, according to Connor. Gak is now displaying a To Let sign (Image: The Argus) The next day, the managing director said that if no investors came forward by Friday, the company would likely go under, Connor claimed. Connor said: “We were hung out to dry.
On Friday [March 28], they emailed saying ‘still no investors, but we’ll update you on Monday’. “On Monday we were told there were still no investors. We were told we were employed all this time, so it was very confusing for staff.
” Connor said that on March 31, staff were informed the business was going into legal procedures to enter into administration and on April 7, staff were finally made officially redundant. READ MORE: Brighton's Gak music emporium displays To Let sign After being made redundant, Connor attached a poster to the shutters over Gak, advertising his services as a guitar technician - Wyatt Audio UK - saying "I'm still around for repairs if you need me". Connor said: “It was extremely frustrating because we were left in limbo for two weeks.
We would have liked them to have been more transparent. “Things have been weird since Christmas, you would have thought they could have at least mentioned something in the run up. “We were technically still employed so couldn’t apply for redundancy or another job.
"We were told that if we tried to apply for another job, that might affect our notice period and then our redundancy claim. "We were being very cautious because we didn’t want to mess anything up. There are people who have worked there for 20 years.
” Although a sign in the window initially said it was "closed for maintenance", the shop is now displaying a To Let sign. In recent days, people were seen in the store packing up boxes of stock and loading it onto the back of lorries. Businesses which file for insolvency must appoint an administrator - that is, a professional insolvency practitioner.
The administrators publish a notice of their appointment in The Gazette. Administrators from FRP Advisory Trading Limited published the notice of their appointment by Gak on Tuesday..
