Following weeks of speculation, it was confirmed today that WHSmith-branded stores will disappear from High Streets around the UK following a £76m deal to sell the chain to retail investment firm Modella Capital.
The WH Smith group is offloading all the 480 High Street stores to focus on its fast-growing and lucrative international travel retail business, which now accounts for the majority of its sales (75%) and profits (85%).
The deal will see the WHSmith sites on High Streets rebranded as TGJones. The group’s stores in airports, train stations and hospitals will continue to trade under the WHSmith name, which has a 233-year history.
Modella, which acquired HobbyCraft in 2024 and The Original Factory Shop (TOFS) last month, said: “We are delighted to have been the successful bidder for one of the UK’s most iconic retail businesses. WHSmith stores are present in prime locations across many towns and cities across the country and, for more than two centuries, have been an important feature in the UK retail landscape.
“TGJones feels like a worthy successor to the WHSmith brand. Jones carries the same sense of family and reflects these stores being at the heart of everyone’s high street.”
The investment firm stated that the shops would offer the same products and services, including Post Office counters and Toys R Us concessions, and trade as normal while it worked with the management team on a new strategy.
Modella added that it “believes strongly in the future of the high street, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to take a heritage brand and develop it further in the coming years.”
Analysts have previously speculated that a new owner could consider mass store closures to slash costs.
WH Smith stated that removing exposure to the UK High Street and with around 50% of the business now international, the deal will enhance its financial profile, including improving revenue growth and margins.
Its Chief Executive, Carl Cowling, said: “As we continue to deliver on our strategic ambition to become the leading global travel retailer, this is a pivotal moment for WHSmith as we become a business exclusively focused on Travel.”
Cowling added: “High Street is a good business; it is profitable and cash generative with an experienced and high-performing management team. However, given our rapid international growth, now is the right time for a new owner to take the High Street business forward and for the WHSmith leadership team to focus exclusively on our Travel business. I wish the High Street team every success.”
The news comes two months after the group revealed it was in talks to sell its High Street business. Over the last couple of years, WH Smith has been closing unprofitable stores, with around 20 due to shut during 2025.
Nicholas Found, Head of Commercial Content at Retail Economics, commented: “The sale of WHSmith’s high street division ends months of speculation, but more importantly marks a significant chapter in the evolution of this iconic retailer that will see its name wiped off high streets.
“This move clears the path for WHSmith to double down on its global travel retail operation – the undisputed growth engine of the business. Its travel arm, with over 1,200 stores across 32 countries, has become the group’s engine room, generating three-quarters of sales and an even larger share of profit. Its product mix, which includes food, beverages and tech, is better suited to higher-margin, impulse-driven purchases in busy transit hubs.
“The move for WHSmith is a clear reflection of the structural pressures squeezing legacy high street retailers. With falling footfall, rising business rates and wage inflation, the economics of the high street have become increasingly unforgiving, with many grappling to find relevance in a digital-first era.
“It’s early days for Modella Capital and its plans for the acquired business, but the private equity firm has a track record of reviving challenged brands. While WHSmith’s name may be disappearing from the high street, it’s not the end of the story, with it now starting a new chapter for the high street arm under the name TGJones.”
NAM Implications:
- The key is that the new owners will have to build a new brand around what remains of WHSmith High Street.
- And make each outlet profitable, fast…
- …to avoid having to cut the High Street estate.
- Meanwhile, WH Smith Travel and International will flourish..
- Leaving the High Street ‘with falling footfall, rising business rates and wage inflation’
- i.e. the economics of the High Street have become increasingly unforgiving
- (Unless the government discovers voter-appeal in its revival?)
