All change at W H Smith

The W H Smith name will disappear from Britain’s high streets for good after the business sold its UK chain.

The deal will see stores rebranded as ‘TGJones’.

The sale of the stores, which will remain open for the time being, was agreed with Modella Capital, a group which already owns Hobbycraft and The Original Factory Shop.

The deal doesn’t include W H Smith’s travel locations, in airports and train stations, which will remain as ‘WH Smith’.

All the 480 town centre stores and 5,000 staff working, for the high street businesses, will move under Modella Capital’s ownership as part of the deal.

This marks the end of an era for a business that has been on the high street since 1792.

The travel division, which has become the key focus of the group in recent years and also includes shops in hospitals, will not be changing.