Modella Capital, the private equity owner of the rebranded WHSmith high street chain TGJones, is to shutter up to 150 of its 480 shops in a sweeping restructuring exercise that places hundreds of retail jobs in jeopardy.
The closures, confirmed to the BBC, mark the latest blow to a high street already battered by stubbornly weak footfall, mounting cost pressures and a string of high-profile collapses. They come barely a year after Modella swept up WHSmith’s loss-making bricks-and-mortar arm in a £40m deal struck in March 2025, with the WHSmith name itself excluded from the transaction and retained by the listed group, which has pivoted to its more lucrative travel concessions in airports and railway stations.
A Modella spokesperson said the decision had “not been taken lightly”, citing what it described as exceptionally tough trading. “While we continue to believe in the strength of the core business, TGJones has experienced highly challenging trading conditions over the past year, along with many other brick-and-mortar retailers,” they said.
The firm laid the blame squarely at the door of three culprits: the “forced” rebrand from the trusted, 233-year-old WHSmith fascia, which it said had dented brand recognition almost overnight; rising operating costs “as a direct result of government policy”, a thinly veiled reference to the increase in employer National Insurance contributions and the higher national living wage that have hammered labour-intensive retailers; and unspecified “geopolitical events”.
The restructuring plan, the spokesperson added, is “designed to protect the substantial core of the store estate and create a stronger, more sustainable business that can continue to serve customers for years to come”.
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