W H Smith won’t open any more high street stores in the UK, chief executive says

W H Smith will not open any more high street stores in the UK, chief executive Carl Cowling has said.

Speaking to the BBC, Cowling said the focus instead would be on UK airports and train stations. Moreover, he said around £120m will go into opening shops in the US and Europe this year.

"So in the first half of this year, we opened 30 shops in North America and opened another 30 shops in the second half of this year," he said. "We’ve got a pipeline of 60 stores to open and we’re constantly winning tenders in airports."

Cowling said the UK already has 550 high street stores, and any more would be “a duplication. We’ve got a very healthy high street business in the UK. But we’ve got no ambitions to grow that,” he said. “When you look at the main cities across England, Wales and Scotland, we are present in those cities.”

In Europe, the company recently opened  five new stores at Brussels Airport and another five at Oslo airports, where it is selling hot dogs. "We’re selling hot food in W H Smith stores so that’s very interesting,” Cowling said.

W H Smith’s group revenue rose 23% in the 13-week period to 27th May 2023, with total travel revenue jumping 31% compared to the year before. High street total revenue, including online, was up 2% while the store network “performed well”.