WH Smith agrees to sell high street chain to Hobbycraft owner

WH Smith has announced that it has agreed to sell its UK high street chain to the owner of Hobbycraft, Modella Capital.

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Michael Crosland, business reporter with the Yorkshire Post, here this morning

00:04with some big news from the high street in that WH Smith has announced that it has agreed

00:10to sell its UK high street chain to Medela Capital, who is the owner of Hobbycraft.

00:16WH Smith has valued its high street chain at £76 million and said that it will eventually

00:22rebrand as TG Jones.

00:25The company has said that the sale does not include its travel locations, which include

00:28airports and train stations.

00:31It's also said that it will keep its stores, which are located in hospitals.

00:36WH Smith will also not be selling the brand, which bears its name.

00:41The deal covers around 480 stores and around 5,000 staff, which work for the business,

00:46who will move under Medela's ownership through the deal.

00:50WH Smith Group Chief Executive Carl Cowling said that the company's high street arm had

00:55become a much smaller part of the business, but said that now was the right time for

01:00a new business to take that forward.

01:02That's all for the time being, I'm Michael Crosland, reporting for the Yorkshire Post.