Iconic WH Smith name to disappear from Frome

The WH Smith shop in Frome will soon be rebranded, with a new name taking over the familiar high street brand.

Located in the town centre, the store will adopt the name ‘TG Jones’ as part of a wider change following the sale of WH Smith’s high street operations to Modella Capital, the owner of Hobbycraft.

Founded in 1792, WH Smith has long been a staple of UK high streets.

Despite the change, the store’s operations will continue as normal during the rebranding process, with Modella Capital assuring customers that it will be ‘business as usual’ throughout the transition.

WH Smith, which employs 5,000 people across 480 UK stores and its Swindon-based support centre, will now focus solely on its Travel business.

Carl Cowling, group chief executive at WH Smith, said, “As our Travel business has grown, our UK High Street business has become a much smaller part of the WHSmith Group.

“High Street is a good business; it is profitable and cash generative with an experienced and high-performing management team. However, given our rapid international growth, now is the right time for a new owner to take the High Street business forward and for the WHSmith leadership team to focus exclusively on our Travel business. I wish the High Street team every success.”

While the WH Smith name is being retired from high street stores like the Frome branch, it will continue to be used at airport, railway station, and hospital outlets, which are not part of the sale to Modella Capital.