HMV spends £1.8m on voice services

HMV Group has awarded AT Communications (ATC) Group a £1.8m contract to supply voice services for the next 24 months.

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The music and books retailer, which also owns the Ottakar's and Waterstone's brands, is using ATC to manage around 3,000 phonelines across more than 600 stores. A spokesman for ATC said the contract was won on the grounds of cost savings.

HMV has been undergoing a root and branch review of costs, following a strategic operational review in March, in which the retailer looked at rationalising all its service provider relationships.

The strategic review was set up in response to disappointing financial results for the year ending 28 April, in which profit before tax was halved and like-for-like sales fell by 3.5 per cent.

The contract also comes at a time when the retailer plans to roll out up to 40 new stores throughout 2008, including a number of high-tech 'stores of the future' which will rely on internet access points to engage shoppers.