WHSmith
WH Smith PLC, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery.
WHSmith's headquarters in Swindon, England | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1792 in London, England |
| Headquarters | Swindon, England |
Number of locations | 525 (High Street) 580 (UK Travel) 600 (International Travel) |
Key people | Henry Staunton (Chairman) Carl Cowling (CEO) |
| Revenue | £1,793 million (2023) |
| £182 million (2023) | |
| £88 million (2023) | |
Number of employees | 14,177 (2023) |
| Website | Consumer Corporate |
| Footnotes / references | |
The company was formed by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in 1792 as a news vendor in London. It remained under the ownership of the Smith family for many years and saw large-scale expansion during the 1970s as the company began to diversify into other markets. Following a rejected private equity takeover in 2004, the company began to focus on its core retail business. It was responsible for the creation of the ISBN book identifier.
WHSmith is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.