Zavvi’s former chief executive Simon Douglas has bought eight stores from administrator Ernst & Young and plans to rebrand them under the fascia Head.

The brand name Zavvi will cease to exist.

HMV has also bought another five stores, to add to the 14 it purchased earlier in the year. In total 380 employees will have transferred from Zavvi to HMV.

Douglas, along with Les Whitfield, has acquired the Zavvi stores through Head Entertainment. Five stores have been bought and the remaining three are expected to complete by February 20. In total, 249 jobs will be saved.

Head is expected to trade the stores using the stock purchased in the deal, and from other sources going forward.

Head’s five confirmed stores are: Bluewater, Dundee, Leeds, Liverpool One and Manchester Arndale.

Tom Jack, joint administrator at Ernst & Young said: “This is a fantastic result for the employees and customers of the stores concerned”.

The administrator said the sale of all remaining stock means that “Zavvi trading will now cease”, resulting in the closure of the remaining Zavvi stores by 20 February 2009, and the loss of 446 jobs.

Earlier this month Retail Week revealed Douglas had made a bid for the business.

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