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WH Smith PLC is set to disappear from UK high streets by name as the process to offload that business continues, The Sunday Times reported on Saturday morning. The London-based retail chain said in late January that it was considering a sale of the high street business to focus on its core travel business. On Saturday however, the Times reported that WH Smith intends to sell the business without the rights to its brand name. The Times wrote that ‘the retailer, run by Chief Executive Carl Cowling, is understood to believe that it is not practical to have two separately owned businesses trading under the same brand’. It added: ‘The culmination of a sale...will raise concerns that the retail group is seeking to distance itself from any fallout from the sale and prompt questions about the long-term future of many stores.’ First-round bids for the high street chain, with the auction attracting interest from investment companies Alteri and Modella Capital, were submitted last week. Shares in WH Smith closed 0.3% lower at 1,159.00 pence in London on Friday. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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