Overview
Employees
3,217 employees
Revenue
$100 to $500 million (USD) per year
Competitors
Waterstone's, Marks & Spencer, McColl's
Headquarters
Swindon, Wiltshire
Everybody knows WHSmith. We’re one of the UK’s oldest retailers (established in 1792), and you very likely grew up with a High Street store nearby. Today, you’ll find us in many travel locations too, from rail and bus stations, to airports, hospitals, universities and workplaces. We have over 14,000 people working for us across the globe and we serve hundreds of millions of customers every year. A huge 59% of the UK population visits a WHSmith store annually! We’re constantly innovating and expanding on an incredible global scale by putting our customers at the heart of all that we do. We already operate from over 20 countries and over 60 airports worldwide, and we’re moving into new territories all the time. So, for someone forging a career in retail there couldn’t be a more exciting place to be! There’s more to WHSmith than you may know. Within the WHSmith family we have a number of UK and international brands, including Funky Pigeon, Gadget Shop, Card Market and Zoodle. We also offer our operating expertise to partners such as the Post Office and Marks & Spencer. Supporting all of these and more are our Head Office teams - based in Swindon (High Street) and central London (Travel). Here, and in our Sydney Head Office, we are always on the lookout for top talent across a whole range of levels and departments, from Buying to IT, Digital to Supply Chain. Wherever you join us, you’ll have the support of an amazing team behind you. In fact, in a survey of the UK’s ten friendliest companies, WHSmith came second. But we offer more than just the backing of a great team. We’ve also made a massive investment in learning and development. No matter which part of the business you join or at what level, we’ll support your progression through excellent training. We have a culture of innovation, one where our employees are actively encouraged to bring new ideas to the table. We adapt our approach for different environments and if one of our entrepreneurial employees thinks they’ve got a great idea, that our customers will love and will be financially viable, we give it a go. This approach has led to our Group profits and share prices consistently increasing over the past ten years and has helped us to outperform most other major retailers. In 2017 we are celebrating our 225th year and are excited to see where the future will take us! At WHSmith there are No Limits to where your career can go! WHSmith is a British retailer which operates a chain of High Street, railway station, airport, hospital, and motorway service station shops. WHSmith is loved by millions as one of the UK's most trusted and recognised names. Our Legacy WHSmith started in 1792 with a small news vendor in Little Grosvenor Street, London, followed by the opening of our first bookstall in Euston Station in 1848. We quickly established ourselves as the favoured newsagent, stationers and bookseller opening stores right across the UK. From this point on, there has been no looking back. We have over 17,000 employees working for us across both businesses; based in either our Head Offices (Swindon or London), our Distribution Centres (Swindon, Birmingham or Dunstable) or our stores. Our Future Even in these tough economic conditions we are consistently delivering good results through building on the strength of our brand, improving on our customer experience, offering the products our customers want at the right price and expanding our business into new areas here and overseas. High Street Highlights Over 600 stores located in almost all of the UK’s major high streets and shopping centres 1 million people visit to our High Street stores every day Business strategy concentrates on maximising sales, controlling costs and ensuring we deliver retail basics – good customer service. Travel Highlights Over 700 units in airports, railway stations, motorway service areas, hospitals, bus stations and workplaces Every day 3.5 million visitors come to our Travel stores Catering for people on the move or in need of a convenience offer. This Smith is far from anonymous. WH Smith (known simply as "WHSmith") is one of the UK's largest book and magazine sellers. The company's more than 600 high street stores sell reading materials, stationery, and movies. WHSmith also runs more than 560 travel shops in London and regional airports, railway stations, hospitals, and motorway service areas that offer selected newspapers, magazines, tobacco, and confectionery. Additionally, it operates the Internet site WHSmith Direct (the UK's second-largest online bookseller behind Amazon), and its Smiths News wholesale business is the largest magazine and newspaper distributor in the UK, supplying about 23,000 retailers daily.
