LAST UPDATED, Sunday 2nd March 2025: We are updating this story if reports complement the initial feature. Latest additions appear in italics
The news that British retailer WHSmith is looking to sell or, potentially, close all its remaining high street stores has had a mixed early reaction, but either course will impact comic publishers and buyers across the UK.
A company statement released yesterday strongly emphasised sell-off hopes, as widely reported in the mainstream media, but the wording also suggested closures remained a possibility. With many high street operations shut in recent years in many towns, including Bolton next month, and the decline of such operation revenues evident, WHSmith is clearly looking at all options available to the business. (Time Out has a list of all the stores closing in 2025 here)
WHSmith is still a leading seller of newsstand comics such as 2000AD, BEANO, Quantum and SHIFT, as well as newspapers and magazines in its high street stores, despite instore layout changes in recent years deprioritising their visibility. If they were all to close, this might adversely impact specialty publishers – and result in the loss of some 5000 jobs, and many post office branches.
Sky News broke the news that WHSmith has been in secret talks to sell its entire high street business in Britain, more than 230 years after it opened its first shop in central London.
The broadcaster reported the yesterday that the listed retail group, which has a market capitalisation of almost £1.5bn, has been in negotiations with a number of prospective buyers of the division for several weeks.
WHSmith was expected to confirm plans for its WHSmith High Street operation on the London Stock Exchange on Monday morning, 27th January 2025.
UPDATE, 27th and 30th January 2025: In fact, the company simply re-issued the earlier statement, below. Its share price continued to fall. However, Sky News has followed up its previous exclusive with the news that specialist retail and consumer investment boutique Modella Capital, which bought Hobbycraft last summer, is among a number of parties which have been holding talks with WHSmith and its advisers. The Guardian has reported Hilco Global, the former owner of HMV and Homebase (both of which fell into administration), are also among potential buyers.
The broadcaster reported that Modella is said to be bidding against a number of other experienced retail investors, including the Apollo-backed firm Alteri, a specialist private equity investor focused exclusively on the European retail sector, which owns the Bensons for Beds chain.
The group generates £452m sales from its UK high street stores, around one-quarter of its £1.9bn annual revenue.
UPDATE, Thursday 30th January 2025: WHSmith’s high-street stores saw sales fall 6% in the second half of 2024 as the company gears up for a potential sell-off. The Grocer reported it was the only drag in an otherwise strong set of results that saw total revenue grow 3% in the 21 weeks to 25 January. The falling sales in its British high-street stores were exacerbated by store closures with a like-for-like comparison showing sales down just 3%.
The Guardian reported shares in WHSmith’s eponymous parent company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, rose by as much as 7% on Wednesday morning, making it the second-biggest riser on the FTSE 250 index of mid-sized companies.
UPDATE, Sunday 2nd March 2025: as closure announcements of WHSmith stores continue, The Sunday Times (subscription required for online access) reports prospective buyers are being told the WHSmith High Street operation will be sold without the licence to use the name. WHSmith believes it would be impractical for two businesses to be reading under the same brand name. The paper also notes most WHSmith stores have an average leasehold of two years, suggesting the chain could quickly disappear from the high street, and 200 host a post office.
(We have been unable to ascertain how many high street stores WHS owns, and how many it properties it leases, but we assume those on leasehold are those more likely to be earmarked for closure first).
downthetubes has also learned any sale of the remaining stores may not be completed until the last quarter of 2025, possibly even early 2026.
Separate to its WHSmith High Street operation, which has already been reduced in recent years, the company operates 580 “Travel UK” stores, plus 320 in the United States and a further 320 in other international locations. These would be unaffected by a sell-off or closures.
WHSmith North America recently launched a retail media network, WHS Media, for the company’s 353 stores in airports, resorts, casinos and rail stations there. The service is the first-ever in-store travel Retail Media Network, connecting brands to consumers across travel hubs in North America.
Smiths News, previously the distribution arm of WHSmith, demerged from WHS in 2006, forming a new logistics and distribution company to deliver newspapers and magazines to newsagents across the UK.
WHSmith confirms sell-off aim
Responding to “press speculation”, WH Smith PLC, which has over 500 high street stores across Britain, many also the location of post office branches, released a short statement.
“WH Smith PLC (“WHSmith”, or the “Group”) notes the recent press speculation regarding its High Street business,” the company stated.
“WHSmith confirms that it is exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash generative part of the Group, including a possible sale.
“Over the past decade, WHSmith has become a focused global travel retailer. The Group’s Travel business has over 1200 stores across 32 countries, and three-quarters of the Group’s revenue and 85% of its trading profit comes from the Travel business.”
“There can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached, and further updates will be provided as and when appropriate.”
WHSmith still leading newspaper and magazine retailer, despite instore layout changes
WHSmith’s first store was opened in 1792 by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in Little Grosvenor Street, London. The company opened the first ever travel retail store in Euston station in 1848.
The company’s high street outlets remain major sales points for comics, newspapers and magazines, and are vital for many specialist publishers, despite the growth in online and subscription sales. The continued success of comics such as DC Thomson’s BEANO comic, for example, is in no small part due to a huge growth in subscriber sales, and The Phoenix led the way in British comics with its direct to consumer sales approach.
Publishers such as Time Bomb Comics, which prides itself on its aim to bring comics back to the high street, are among those publishers most likely to be impacted if a buyer cannot be found. DC Thomson’s Commando might also be impacted, as could VIZ.
Small magazine publishers whose only major physical visibility is in WHSmith larger stores, will also have to adapt to what might be a major reduction in outlets for their titles. Doctor Who Magazine, for example, along with INFINITY, Fortean Times and Starburst, to name a few, although, again, online subscriptions are available, either directly from their respective publishers, or through services such as NewsStand.
Most corner shops – once full of magazines – have long since considerably reduced shelving space for publications in favour of off licence and food items, which offer stronger, faster turnover.
In recent years, WHSmith chose to refocus its high street stores on its stationery and greeting card business, one manager visiting the retailer’s Lancaster store recently telling downthetubes the sale of newspapers and magazines – once the core of the chain’s business – were no longer viewed as a priority. Shelving has been reduced and relocated to the back of stores, in some close to newly-introduced Toys R Us branded sections.
The company has, however, until recently, been proud of its high street presence, stating on the WHSmith PLC website, as of 26th January 2025, “On the high street, WHSmith have supported generations of our customers through their own journeys through life, whether it’s their first book, their first day of school, or their first birthday. We’re proud to help people discover new passions – or rediscover old ones – and today, we’re proud to be the hub of the high street.
“With an extensive reach across the UK and a presence on nearly every significant UK high street, our High Street stores sell a wide range of products, focused on the following categories: Stationery (including greetings cards), Books, and News and Impulse (including newspapers, magazines and confectionery), as well as a small range of Entertainment products in some stores. Trading in our High Street stores is seasonal, peaking at Christmas, with other peaks at Easter and in August / September for ‘Back to School’.
Beyond the high street, WHSmith High Street includes several online businesses: Whsmith.co.uk, which sells a range of books, stationery, magazines and gifts, the online personalised greetings card site, Funkypigeon.com, leading online specialist pen retailer, Cultpens.com, and Treeofhearts.co.uk and Dottyaboutpaper.co.uk, which complement the company’s existing stationery ranges.
Troubled times for high street operations
In its report on the potential closure, BBC News noted revenue from WHSmith High Street operations dropped by £17 million in 2024 compared with the year before, but profits stayed the same after the business closed 14 of its stores last year.
The lower turnover reflects wider changes on the high street, general retailers facing competition from the internet and supermarket competitors, which also sell newspapers and magazines, and give their more selected offer better exposure than most WHSmith high street stores.
Catherine Shuttleworth, CEO and Founder of the consumer retail analyst Savvy Marketing, told the BBC shopping behaviour in the UK had “radically changed”, reducing the reasons to visit stores like WH Smith.
“Most of us read our news online not in magazines and newspapers, we download books and send birthday cards through online operators,” she claimed.
The focus for a business like WHSmith was now, she feels, “in shops in high footfall areas like airports, stations and hospitals.”
WHSmith high street stores have been viewed unfavourably by consumers. Pre COVID, in 2019, a Which? survey found WHSmith ranked the lowest among high street retailers – the ninth year in a row it appeared in the bottom two spots – with shoppers describing the stationery specialist as “cramped and messy”. The company has however made many changes to most stores since, an effort to improve access and decor.
Who Might Buy WHSmith?
WHSmith has been closing high street stores across the UK for several years – a number of branches shut across Scotland and England last year, and 17 have already been earmarked for closure in 2025 – and it seems a buyer may be hard to find, despite the presumed additional carrot of its associated online operations, and the recent rollout of its Toys R Us concessions in some stores.
On Monday 27th January, Sky News reported specialist retail and consumer investment boutique Modella Capital, which bought Hobbycraft last summer, is among a number of parties which have been holding talks with WHSmith and its advisers. They are said to be bidding against a number of other experienced retail investors, including the Apollo-backed firm Alteri, a specialist private equity investor focused exclusively on the European retail sector.
Nicholas Found, senior consultant at the Retail Economics research consultancy, told the BBC potential buyers may see opportunities to “restructure and reimagine WH Smith’s high street presence”, albeit in a “challenging climate”.
Speaking to The Observer on the prospective sale, Kien Tan, a senior retail adviser at PwC said: “The same formula that works in travel stores is no longer sufficient on high streets, where many of its products are available at other retailers or online.
“That doesn’t mean that the high street stores don’t have a future, but they probably will look very different – different products, perhaps incorporating hospitality or other services to give people a reason to visit. That doesn’t mean that WHSmith needs to disappear, but it might have a different brand name above the door to reflect the different customer proposition.”
Bankers at the London offices of Greenhill have been appointed to run the sale process for the high street business, with a deal expected in the coming months.
• WHSmith PLC is online at whsmithplc.co.uk
• WHSmith PLC Locations Worldwide
• Smiths News which distributes a huge number of titles to newsagents, is not part of WHSmith; it demerged from WHSmith in 2006. Last November, the company reported revenues of £1,104m for the Financial Year 2024 (+1.1% versus FY 2023) and adjusted operating profit of £39.1m (+£0.3m versus FY 2023. The company works together with many of the country’s leading publishers and distributors, taking their newspapers and magazines on their final-mile journeys into retail stores and on to the shelves. Clients as of January 2025 include distributors such as MarketForce, Seymour and Warners; the Financial Times; Topps; and publishing corporations such as Reach, who own many local newspapers and the Daily Mirror.
Smiths News includes three adjacent businesses that complement the daily delivery of newspapers and magazines, offering publishers and retail customers a wide choice of additional, value adding, services. These are “In Store”, which works with retailers, suppliers and publishers providing field-based merchandising and marketing, supply chain auditing and compliance solutions; DMD, a specialist supplier of printed and digital media to airlines and travel points throughout the UK and worldwide; and Martin Lavell, a leading corporate news distributor, supplying newspapers and magazines to corporate and public sector customers for the past 50 years.
WHSmith stores that closed in 2024
- Alfreton, Derbyshire – closed in January 2024
- Ramsgate, Kent – January 2024
- Oban, Argyll and Bute, Scotland – February 2024
- Nantwich, South Cheshire – February 2024
- Margate, Kent – April 2024
- Bridgwater – September 2024
- Sale, Manchester – September 2024
- Bournemouth – October 2024
WHSmith stores that have already closed in 2025
- Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth – January 2025
- Luton, Bedfordshire – January 18
- March, Cambridgeshire – January 25
- Basingstoke, Hampshire – February 1
- Long Eaton – February 1
- Newtown, Powys – February 15
- Winton branch in Bournemouth, Dorset – February 15
- Rhyl, Denbighshire – February 15
- Bolton, Greater Manchester – February 15
WHSmith stores reported to be closing in 2025
- Accrington, Lancashire – March 15
- Halstead, Essex – April
- Halesowen, West Midlands – April
- Diss, Norfolk – April
- Newport, Wales – April
- Haverhill, Suffolk – April 26
- Woolwich, London – April
- Stockton, County Durham – May
- Oldham, Greater Manchester – May
- Orpington, Greater London – no date given yet
Further Reading…
• WHSmith – London Stock Exchange News Items
• Sky News: WHSmith in secret talks to sell historic high street arm
• Sky News: Hobbycraft-owner Modella circles WHSmith high street chain
• BBC News: WHSmith in talks to sell high street stores
• The Observer: WHSmith puts UK high street stores up for sale creating uncertainty for workers
Surprise move frees up parent company of 232-year-old chain to focus on successful travel arm
• History Today: The First WH Smith Railway Bookstall
Seeing the potential of the new technology, William Henry Smith opened his first railway bookstall on 1 November 1848
• Time Out: Full list of WHSmith stores closing for good in 2025
• downthetubes: The British Comic Industry Q&A
• Looking for the downthetubes UK Comic Sales Figures, which we documented through published ABC figures since 2006 until February 2024? The spreadsheet is here (We stopped updating this as so few comics now report sales to ABC)
This post was updated on Thursday 30th January 2025 to report 2024 trading results
Thanks to Leigh Smith for the latest links
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: 2000AD, British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Featured News, Features
Of the five nearest newsagents in my area, only one has a selection of periodicals – and it’s a token selection, e.g. the “obligatory” out-of-date fishing magazine, a TV listings magazine, and maybe a car magazine, all alongside just one copy each of the major newspapers.
I get the reality: the owner of the corner shop nearest by me told me that it wasn’t financially viable to continue paying each week for deliveries of newspapers and magazines, so the space where there were periodicals is now home to an energy drinks freezer. I understand the reality, but it is sad.
As far as buying comics, spontaneity was obviously a thing back in the day. Sure, one might have collected a comic such as EAGLE or ROY OF THE ROVERS, but there still had to be that time where you picked up a comic for the first time; I remember buying ROY OF THE ROVERS because all the DC and Marvel Comics had sold out. I know we live in the age of digital issues and subscriptions, but you still need to discover a publication before you can become a regular reader. As someone with an interest in naval history, it was only an accidental discovery of the magazine WARSHIPS INTERNATIONAL FLEET REVIEW that led me to becoming a regular reader, after having discovered it in WHSmith.
Without a strong presence on the high street, I fear for various publishers.