New Name for WH Smith Store in Driffield

Wednesday, 4 June 2025 06:00

By Andrew Spence, Local Democracy Reporter

A planning application for changes to the WH Smith store in Driffield has been submitted to East Riding Council as the centuries old brand is set to disappear from UK High Streets.

Having been established over 200 years ago by Henry Walton Smith, the WH Smith brand has been a staple of British retail for centuries. Earlier this year, WH Smith PLC announced it has agreed to sell its High Street stores to Modella Capital in a deal worth £76 million.

Soon after the acquisition, Modella Capital, who also own Hobbycraft, announced that the near 500 High Street stores it had acquired will be rebranded as ‘TG Jones’, meaning the WH Smith brand will disappear from High Streets across the country. Unlike WH Smith, TG Jones is not named after any particular individual.

The WH Smith name will live on but only in travel stores in airports and railway stations, hospitals and motorway service stations, which were not part of the take over deal.

This change is now set to come to fruition as East Riding Council has received an application for a change in the signage at the WH Smith on Middle Street South in Driffield.

Plans depict how the new TG Jones signage will be reminiscent of the existing WH Smith signage, with the same blue and white colouring.

Similar planning applications can be expected to appear over the coming weeks and months for other WH Smith stores across the region.

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