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WHSmith is one of the UK's leading retail groups and their aim is to be Britain's most popular bookseller, stationer and newsagent.

19/04/2007 Announcement - Click here to read: WH Smith PLC to open Post Offices in 70 High Street stores

WH Smith PLC, one of the UK’s leading retail groups, is made up of two core businesses – WHSmith Retail and WHSmith News.

{At 31st August 2009} WHSmith PLC has 565 stores and 490 outlets airport, train station, hospital and motorway service area locations mainly across the UK.

WHSmith Direct - www.whsmith.co.uk - serves customers on the internet 24 hours a day.

WH Smith Retail sells a wide range of newspapers, magazines, stationery, books, impulse products and entertainment products.

WHSmith Travel sells a tailored range of newspapers, magazines, books and confectionery products for people on the move and a broader range in Hospitals and Workplaces.

WH Smith PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SMWH) and is part of the FTSE mid 250 index.

WHSmith Retail Limited is located at WHSmith Retail Limited, Greenbridge Road, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 3RX registered in England number 05681969, VAT registration number GB238 5548 36, email customer.relations@whsmith.co.uk

Delivering to 22,000 customers daily, WHSmith News is the UK’s market leader in newspaper and magazine distribution. Through its 47 distribution centres across England and Wales, it serves both independent and multiple retailers.

Click here to view WH Smith store locations

Early History

WH Smiths history dates back to Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in 1792 when they owned only a news vendors. After Henry Walton Smith death and then later after Anna's death in 1816, H W Smith, trading now as newsagents and stationers, is passed to her two sons, Henry Edward and William Henry Smith.

In 1828, William Henry Smith was the more capable businessman of the two brothers and the concern becomes known as WH Smith. - Full History in the words of WH Smith can be found by clicking here.

Key Facts About WH Smith

Our Company

• WHSmith has stores in 399 out of the top 400 UK High Streets

• We have 565 high street stores and and our Travel business operates 490 outlets at airport, train station, hospital, workplace and motorway service area locations primarily in the UK.

Our High Street business operate from:

• 111 large stores (of more than 8,000 square feet)
• 266 medium stores (of 3,000 to 8,000 square feet)
• 188 small stores (up to 3,000 square feet)

• WHSmith employs over 17,000 people across it's retail business.

• Every year 70% of the UK’s population visit a WHSmith store

• On average, just over 1.2 million people visit a WHSmith High Street store every day of the year

• Every year 125 million travellers pass WHSmith’s busiest Travel store at London’s Victoria Station
  (Source: Network Rail)

• WHSmith sells 1.5 million magazines every week; 24,000 magazines every hour we are open

• Every year WHSmith sells in excess of 40 million books

• On average, we sell 3,000 A4 pads a day

• End to end the sales of our 3 best selling rulers would stretch from London to Spain

• Our High Street Retail business has 565 stores across and our Travel Retail business operates 490 travel stores at airport, station, hospital and workplace locations.

• In terms of selling space overall the business has 3.3 million square feet of selling space; 3 million square feet of which is in our High Street business and 0.3 million square feet of which is managed by our Travel Retail business.
  
• • Our High Street Retail business operates:
    • 111 large stores (of more than 8,000 square feet)
    • 266 medium stores (of 3,000 to 8,000 square feet)
    • 188 small stores (up to 3,000 square feet)

• In Travel Retail our stores range in size from 90 square feet in Perth to 9,912 square feet at London Victoria with an average store size of 1,130 square feet
  

• In a large WHSmith store we sell circa 25,000 lines and a typical Travel store stocks circa 3,500 lines
  

• WHSmith employs 17,000 employees across its retail businesses.

WH Smith Store Locations {Last updated 30/04/2007}

As stores are opened and relocated regularly, we strongly recommend you please click here for the WHSmith website and branch and sotre locator prior to making any plans, to check for your nearest current store and opening hours.

WH SMITH NEWS 19/04/2007

WH Smith PLC to open Post Offices in 70 High Street stores

WH Smith PLC announces an agreement with Post Office Limited to open Post Offices within 70 WHSmith
High Street stores.
This follows the successful trial of Post Office franchises in six WHSmith stores. Since these trial stores
opened, there has been positive customer feedback, with customers welcoming the pleasant new Post
Office environment, good levels of customer service, convenient locations and additional services, such as
extended opening hours.
The agreement secures the future of main Post Office services in 70 towns and ensures that local communities
will continue to have access to the full range of over 170 Post Office services from a convenient and easily
accessible location in the heart of their town.
There is a natural fit between these two wellknown
and valued high street brands and the complementary
products and services provide an exciting opportunity to enhance the customer offer further for both WHSmith
and Post Office customers.
We anticipate that the majority of the 70 Post Office branches will have relocated to the local WHSmith store by
autumn 2008, on average less than 250 metres from the site of the original Post Office.
Commenting on the announcement, Kate Swann, WHSmith Group Chief Executive, said:
“We are delighted to be working with the Post Office to ensure that main Post Office services continue to be
available in the centre of 70 UK towns. Following the positive response to our Post Office trial, we are pleased
to be able to bring the full range of Post Office services and an enhanced customer offer to more communities.”
Alan Cook, Post Office Limited Managing Director, said:

“We are tremendously pleased to have secured WHSmith as a major partner, committed to operating a further
70 Post Office branches in its stores. The combination of a WHSmith store and a Post Office branch makes
perfect sense for customers and we both believe that it will strengthen our respective businesses. Crucially for
Post Office Limited, the partnership will help us to put the Crown office network on a sound financial footing,
after many years of heavy losses.”

Ends

WH Smith History 1792 - 1900 (Source: http://www.whsmithplc.com/WHSPLC-OC-History1.htm)

1792

• Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna opened a small newsvendors in Little Grosvenor Street, London. Henry Smith dies a few months later leaving Anna to run the business.
• Anna Smith goes into partnership with Zaccheus Coates. This lasts until his death in 1812.

• Anna Smith dies and H W Smith, trading now as newsagents and stationers, is passed to her two sons, Henry Edward and William Henry Smith.

• William Henry Smith was the more capable businessman of the two brothers and the concern becomes known as WHSmith.

• The enterprise changes its name to WHSmith & Son when William Henry's son, William Henry also, was taken into partnership on his 21st birthday.

• WHSmith opens its first bookstall at Euston on 1 November. Other station bookstalls followed, taking advantage of "railway mania" in England. These bookstalls become outlets for cheap editions of other publications which were produced for railway travellers, the popular "yellowbacks".

• WHSmith & Son, now recognised as the principal newspaper distributor in the country, acquire wholesale distribution warehouses in Dublin, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. A substantial network of newspaper distribution is established across the country.

• Mr W H Smith I retires and William Henry Smith II succeeds as head of business.

• WHSmith starts a lending library venture which lasts until 1961, when changing social habits bring it to an end.
• The firm acquires its own printing works.

• Mr W H Smith II takes on a partner, barrister William Lethbridge, so he can devote more time to politics.

• Mr W H Smith II became an MP.

• Mr W H Smith II retires from active partnership and devotes his time to politics. The Gilbert & Sullivan song with the famous line "now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Nav-ee" from HMS Pinafore was aimed at his appointment as First Lord of the Admiralty.

• Mr W H Smith II dies. His widow is created Viscountess Hambleden and his eldest son, who became the second Viscount Hambleden in 1913, becomes the head of the business.

• A superannuation Fund for clerical workers is founded.

• A Pension Fund for manual workers is introduced.

1903

• First overseas branch opens in Paris.

• A dispute with the railways over bookstall rents results in contracts for station sites on the Great Western and London and North Western Railways being lost. The firm reacts rapidly by opening shops near stations. In three months, by 1 January 1906, 150 new shops come into being. Shopfitting (Estate) Department established.

• Publicity Department set up.

• World War I sees more than 4,000 WHSmith people serving their country. The new Head Office, Strand House in Portugal Street, is used as the Postal Censor's office in 1918.

• English bookshop opens in Brussels.

• WHSmith aquires Truslove & Hanson bookshops in London.

• Second Viscount Hambleden dies and is succeeded as head of the business by his son, the third Viscount. The death duties payable necessitated the formation in 1929 of a private limited liability company in which all the partners became the directors.

• Bridge House, Lambeth, is purpose-built to house the Bookbinding Works and Stationery Department.

• World War II - more than 5,000 men and women from WHSmith go into the forces.

• During the 'blitz' the first travelling bookstall appears to replace bombed-out bookstalls.

• WHSmith aquires Sherratt & Hughes bookshops.

• Following the death of the third Viscount Hambleden in 1948, another change in the Company's constitution takes place. As Viscount Hambleden owned all the ordinary shares and the death duties were so heavy, a public holding compnay was formed to buy up all the share capital of WHSmith & Son Limited. The shares of the holding company are subscribed by the family, staff and public. On 1 September 1949, WHSmith & Son (Holdings) Limited is formed. Its Governing Director, and later first Chairman, was the Hon. David Smith, brother of the third Viscount Hambleden.

• WHSmith expands into Canada (subsidiary incorporated sale in 1949).

• WHSmith acquires Bowes & Bowes bookshops.

• Book Department moves to Bridge House, Lambeth from Strand House, Portugal Street.

• WHSmith and American publishing firm, Doubleday, establish Book Club Associates, the biggest book club operation in Britain.

• Centre of book and stationery distribution moves to Swindon from Bridge House, Lambeth.

• CHW Troughton becomes Chairman, the first head of business from outside the Smith family.

• First WHSmith Travel Agency opens. Brown and Orange identity developed.

• Peter Bennett becomes head of business.

• WHSmith acquires LCP Homecentres, later to become WHSmith Do It All.

• Simon Hornby becomes Chairman.

• Cable Services, later to become Television Services Division is established, involving WHSmith in the growing cable and satellite TV industry. Screensport is launched in 1984. Lifestyle is launched in 1985.

• WHSmith acquires US company Elson's Holding Inc (later to become WHSmith Inc) - a retail business for the travelling public. Over 300 stores and shops in operation.

• WHSmith acquire Paperchase stationery stores.
• Hambleden Press, descended in part from the printing works of 1860, is sold to Satellite Press.
• WHSmith acquire Our Price Music, the recorded music chain.

• WHSmith dispose of Book Club Associates.
• Heathcote Books, Britain's biggest distributor of paperback books to the bookselling trade, is established in Warwick by WHSmith.

• WHSmith, by a programme of targeted acquisitions, establishes an office supplies division, WHSmith Business Supplies. Companies acquired are Pentagon Group, Satex, Sandhurst Marketing, Cartwright Brice, H J Chapman and W H Hayden.
• The bookshops of Bowes & Bowes, including City Centre Bookshops, Truslove & Hanson and Sherratt & Hughes are extended with the acquisition of a controlling interest in Waterstone's, forming Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd., the largest chain of specialist bookshops in the UK.
• WHSmith acquire Wee Three, 19 recorded music shops in Pennsylvania, USA. WHSmith dispose of 86.5% shareholding in WHSmith Canada.

WH Smith History 1990-Present (Source: http://www.whsmithplc.com/WHSPLC-OC-History3.htm)

1990

• The Boards of Boots and WHSmith announce the formation of a joint venture in the UK DIY retail market. The joint venture acquired the Payless (Boots) and Do It All (WHSmith) businesses, to trade under the name Do It All Limited.

• WHSmith dispose of WHSmith Travel Agencies and Television Services Division.
• Waterstone's store opens in Boston, USA.

• WHSmith Group celebrates its Bicentenary.
• WHSmith Group acquires 50% of Virgin Retail Ltd to operate its chain of 14 megastores and 12 computer games centres.
• WHSmith Music Inc acquires 59 stores from Record World and 20 stores from National Record Mart.
• The Wall music retailer is formed.

• Michael Orr joins the Board as a non-executive director.

• The businesses of Our Price and Virgin Retail are merged, with WHSmith establishing a 75% share of the business.
• Jeremy Hardie becomes Chairman.
• Proposals for the rationalisation of the Company's ordinary share capital to equalise the voting rights of the A and B ordinary shares are announced.
• Patrick Lupo joins the Board as a non-executive director.

• Waterstone's 100th branch opens in Reading.

• Bill Cockburn is appointed as Group Chief Executive and starts a major strategic review resulting in the sale of WHSmith Business Supplies to French office supplies company, Guilbert, for £142 million and WHSmith's 50% holding in Do It All to Boots PLC.
• Paperchase and Heathcote are sold.
• Hon. Philip Smith stands down from the Board, ending the Smith family involvement with the management of the Company.

• UK Travel Retail is created as a separate business.
• Bill Cockburn resigns as Group Chief Executive and Richard Handover is appointed three months later.
• WHSmith announces plans to focus on a core of integrated businesses comprising; WHSmith High Street, WHSmith Europe and International Travel Retail and WHSmith News. Following this, a demerger of Waterstone's and a divestment of interests in specialist music retailing, namely Virgin Our Price and The Wall is announced.
• The Wall is sold to Camelot Music Inc for £28m.

• Waterstone's is sold to a company jointly owned by EMI Group plc and Advent International for £300m.
• WHSmith's 75% share in Virgin Our Price is sold to Virgin Retail Group Ltd for £145m.
• WHSmith purchases the John Menzies Retail chain and the leading European internet bookshop, www.bookshop.co.uk.

• WHSmith purchases Hodder Headline, a leading UK consumer and educational publisher.
• WHSmith Online, www.whsmith.co.uk is launched.
• John Barton joins the Board as a non-executive director.
• Jeremy Hardie retires and Martin Taylor is appointed as Chairman.

• WHSmith acquires Hazelwood Enterprises Inc. for $19m and the Benjamin Company Inc. for $19m.
• John Warren is appointed Group Finance Director, succeeding Keith Hamill.

• WHSmith acquires the Blue Star Consumer Retailing Group, the leading bookseller in Australia and New Zealand, for £38m.
• Tim Hely Hutchinson is appointed Chairman of WHSmith News after the announcement that the Group had terminated discussions with ABN Amro Private Equity for the sale of WHSmith News.

• WH Smith announces the sale of Helicon to RM plc for £0.7m and acquires John Murray (Publishers) Ltd, a leading educational and consumer publishing house founded in 1768.
• WHSmith TXT is launched, a three-year community investment programme worth £1.5 million, designed to help teachers to raise literacy standards of students aged between 11-14 years in over 100 selected secondary schools across the UK.
• M T Rainey is appointed a non-executive director of the Company.

• WHSmith TXT is named as a finalist in the Business in the Community Awards for Excellence, the UK's most prestigious national awards for companies able to demonstrate the positive impact of their business on society through community programmes and business practices.
• Martin Taylor retires as Chairman of the Group and Richard Handover takes over the role, having been Group Chief Executive since 1997.
• Kate Swann is appointed as Group Chief Executive.
• WHSmith announces the sale of its US Airport and Hotel retailing businesses for £41m and £8m respectively.

• WH Smith receives a preliminary approach from Primera, a venture capitalist group, regarding a possible offer for the Company. The approach is subsequently withdrawn.
• The sale of WH Smith's ASPAC Retail business to private equity group Pacific Equity Partners is announced consisting of retail businesses in Australia (Angus & Robertson), New Zealand (Whitcoulls) and Hong Kong but excluding the Singapore Airport operations. The Singapore Airport operations are sold later in the year to TimesNewsLink Singapore.
• Hodder Headline, WH Smith's publishing business, is sold to Hachette Livre, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère S.C.A. Following the sale, Tim Hely Hutchinson resigns as Director of WH Smith PLC and Chairman of WHSmith News. Neil Monnery, Group Strategy Director, is appointed Chairman of WHSmith News.
• Following the retirement of Richard Handover, Robert Walker is appointed non-executive Chairman of WH Smith PLC.

• The Plot Against America by Philip Roth wins the 2005 WHSmith Literary Award in its final year.
• Alan Stewart is appointed Group Finance Director in succession to John Warren who stepped down from the Board on 3 March.
• WHSmith Travel wins a five year contract to open two new stores, including a specialist bookstore, WHSmith Books, at London Luton Airport from 1 July.
• Mike Ellis is appointed non-executive director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board on 30 March.
• In July, Merrill Lynch are appointed the Company's joint broker, alongside JPMorgan Cazenove.
• Luke Mayhew is appointed non-executive director on 25 July.

• 21 April, announcement of Interim Results 2006 and intention to separate the Retail and News Distribution businesses via a demerger.
• 27 June, details of separation of WHSmith Retail and News Distribution businesses via a demerger announced.
• 2 August, results of shareholders meetings regarding the separation of WHSmith Retail and News Distribution businesses via a demerger announced.
• 1 September, demerger of Retail and News Distribution businesses becomes effective with the creation of two separately listed entities - WH Smith PLC (formerly the Retail business) and Smiths News PLC (formerly WHSmith News).
• 23 November, WH Smith PLC announces agreements with Moto Hospitality Limited and Swayfield Group to open travel stores in UK motorway service areas.

• 19 April, WH Smith PLC announces its intention to open Post Offices in 71 High Street stores following the successful trial of Post Offices in six WHSmith stores in 2006.
• Travel establishes a strong presence in the motorway service area sector, opening franchise units in 50 Moto and 35 Welcome Break locations.
• 15 November, WH Smith PLC publishes its first Interim Management Statement.
• In the annual Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index, WHSmith improves its performance for the fourth successive year, achieving a Gold ranking.

• The Company completes a £90m return of cash to shareholders.
• Travel opens 28 new units during the year, including 6 at Heathrow Terminal 5, 5 at Edinburgh, 3 at Heathrow Terminal 3 and 4 at St Pancras International.
• 19 March, WHSmith announces the acquisition of UNS Group Ltd comprising 72 retail units and 8 Caffe Nuovo coffee shops in 62 hospitals. WHSmith also announces a franchise agreement with RoadChef to open Travel units in all 29 RoadChef motorway service areas.
• WHSmith acquires 23 units in 11 airports from Alpha Retail UK.
• WHSmith completes the integration of Post Offices into 82 High Street stores. In addition, Bureau de Change units are opened in a further 50 High Street stores.
• WHSmith opens 9 new High Street stores in un-served catchments and acquires 7 High Street stores from Martin McColl.
• 1 September, following the retirement of MT Rainey from the Board in January, Drummond Hall is appointed as a Non-Executive Director.
• In the annual Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index, WHSmith improves its performance for the fifth successive year, achieving a Platinum ranking.

• Travel opens 51 units in the year, successfully completing the integration of the acquisitions in 2008 of hospital units from UNS Group Ltd and airport stores from Alpha Retail UK Limited.
• 9 new High Street stores opened, primarily in un-served catchment areas.
• WHSmith opens 12 more specialist ‘books-only’ stores in airport locations.
• In the annual Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index, WHSmith retains in platinum ranking
• WHSmith named Bookselling Company of the Year and General Retailer of the Year in the Bookseller Retail Awards 2009