WHSmith are reportedly in “secret talks” to sell 600 UK high street stores more than 230 years after opening their first shop.
The retail group have been in negotiations with a number of prospective buyers of the high street division for several weeks, according to Sky News.
WHSmith could confirm the plan in a statement to the London Stock Exchange as early as next week, reports the outlet.
The company’s high street arm comprises roughly 500 stores, employing about 5,000 people across the country.
It is currently part of the same group as WHSmith’s faster-growing, more profitable travel retail business which operates from airports, train stations and hospitals.
The travel retail business comprises 600 shops in the UK, roughly half of a global operation numbering about 1,200 travel retail outlets.
The identities of the likely buyers were unclear on Saturday, reports Sky.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, journalist Mark Kleinman said that WHSmith had confirmed to him they were “exploring potential strategic options for this profitable…part of the Group, including a possible sale”.
WH Smith’s high street division, which recorded flat operating profit of £32m last year, still largely sells greeting cards, books and stationery.
Meanwhile, the travel arm has a wider offering of food and drink, and technology products.
The travel business now accounts for 75 per cent of the company’s revenue, and 85 per cent of profits.
It is growing particularly quickly in the US market.
It comes after WH Smith confirmed yet another closure after revealing 17 stores would shut for good in the coming months.
Its branch on Powis Street in Woolwich is now the latest to be marked for closure, with the store shutting up shop for good in April.
The stationery and sweet shop has been on the south-east London high street for almost two decades, first opening in 2008.
Customers have branded the closure a “shame”, with many saying there would be “no shops left” in the area.
A spokesperson for the branch told The Sun it was “disappointed” to be losing its presence in the area.
They said: “It is no longer sustainable to continue to trade from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry.”
WHSmith is focusing on the travel side of its business where sales are growing.
In an update this year to investors, the retailer said it’s on track to open 15 stores this year, with a further 15 to follow “each year over the medium term”.
The retailer said it would be moving away from its high-street stores and has no plans to open any more.
Now a total of 18 sites have been confirmed for closure this year, following a number of closures last year.
WHSmith have been contacted for comment by The Sun.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
