HMV has confirmed it will not be redeeming gift vouchers in its Irish stores 'for the time being'.

The music and film retailer announced this morning that it is appointing Deloitte as administrators in the UK.

It has raised concerns for the jobs of over 4,000 people with around 300 of those working in this country.

The most recent financial figures from HMV for the 6 months to the end of October last show a massive loss of nearly €29 million and sales down close to 14%.

The stores are open and trading today including the 16 Irish outlets.

It is believed a move to the online music market has led to the demise of the music and games retailer.

The administrators will now try to find a buyer for all or parts of the business.

CEO sees future for company 

The chief executive of HMV Trevor Moore says he sees some future for the company but that will increasingly involve the web. He said the administrators Deloitte are looking at "all options" to safeguard as many of the jobs as possible.

Moore told a media conference call that the company had a disappointing Christmas with sales down about 10%.

He said the HMV had grown sales of video games and maintained its share of music sales but was let down by not having enough supplies of the must-have Christmas gift – tablet computers.

Moore also said the company had not been engaging in mis-selling of gift vouchers in the last couple of weeks.

The company is trying to assess how much is outstanding on vouchers but said there had been a "very high" level of redemption of vouchers since Christmas.

Gennaro Castaldo is Head of Press and PR with HMV.

Speaking to Newstalk he gave this advice for anyone with a voucher.