WHSmith’s decision to sell off its entire UK high street business is a significant moment in British retail. The WHSmith high street sale to private equity firm Modella Capital has ended a 233-year run of high street presence and introduced a new and unfamiliar brand: TGJones.
For those of us who grew up with WHSmith as a staple of the British high street, this transition is both abrupt and strategically baffling. What makes this more than just another retail buyout is the fact that WHSmith has retained the brand, the IP, and the profitable airport business. They have offloaded the less profitable legacy stores and kept the real value.
What Modella Capital Bought and What They Didn't
Modella Capital acquired roughly 480 stores and 5,000 staff from WHSmith in a deal worth £76 million. But critically, they did not acquire the WHSmith brand or any associated intellectual property. WHSmith kept the airport and travel locations, where margins are higher and footfall is stronger. These make up the majority of the company’s profit and have been the focus of growth for some time.
What Modella bought is essentially the physical footprint of a retail estate, minus the brand equity that makes it recognisable. This has led to the creation of a new brand, TGJones, now replacing WHSmith on high streets across the UK.
TGJones Rebrand: Familiar Colours, Unfamiliar Meaning
TGJones has been positioned by Modella as a friendly and familiar new name. A common British surname, similar in tone to Smith. The blue and white colour scheme remains. The font structure feels eerily familiar. But the connection ends there.
TGJones, at launch, is a brand with no legacy, no story, and no strategic positioning. It is a replacement by convenience, not meaning. In brand terms, this is a cold start. There is no brand equity to inherit, no emotional capital to build from, and no customer loyalty to lean on.
Replacing one surname with another does not create a brand. Branding is not just about visual cues. It is about clarity, trust, value and relevance. Right now, TGJones has none of these. And WHSmith’s decision to withhold the brand IP means that the new owners must now build all of it from scratch.
Why WHSmith’s Strategy Makes Sense
From WHSmith’s perspective, the decision to exit the high street retail business while retaining the profitable airport stores is logical. The travel retail arm now generates over three quarters of the company’s revenue. By keeping the WHSmith name and focusing on this higher-margin division, the business is protecting its core brand equity.
The high street arm, meanwhile, had become a drag on performance. Revenues were down. Customer experience had declined. The store estate was underinvested and lacked modernisation. Selling the problem child while holding onto the golden goose is classic strategic clarity.
This also explains why WHSmith refused to license the brand for use by the new owners. Sharing the WHSmith name across two completely different ownership and experience models would only create confusion. Instead, they opted for a clean break.
Cosmetic Rebrand Without Real Change
The most surprising aspect of this transaction is the lack of change beyond the name. TGJones retains the same staff, same layouts, same products, and in many cases the same store managers. The experience for customers is largely identical. Only the name above the door has changed.
This is not transformation. This is continuity in a new jacket. And from a brand repositioning standpoint, it is a high-risk approach. Customers already viewed many WHSmith high street stores as tired, cluttered or irrelevant. Simply changing the signage does not fix those issues.
If anything, it deepens the problem. Customers are now walking into a store that looks like WHSmith, feels like WHSmith, but has none of its legacy or trust. And there is no compelling reason yet for them to keep coming back.
A Brand in Search of Strategy
TGJones is a blank slate. That can be a powerful place to start from, but only if filled with purpose. Right now, the name has no clear promise. No defined category ownership. No public positioning statement. This is particularly dangerous in a competitive and shrinking high street landscape.
To succeed, TGJones needs to become more than a replacement name. It needs to mean something. Without clear differentiation, without investment in the customer experience, and without a unique value proposition, it risks becoming a brand that exists in name only.
What Modella Capital Could Do Differently
If TGJones is to become a sustainable, relevant retail brand, there are concrete steps Modella Capital can take. These are not just cosmetic suggestions. They are essential commercial strategies.
Create a visible break from the past
Invest in refitting flagship stores. Change the lighting, layouts, and service culture. Show customers this is not WHSmith in disguise.
Build a clear brand positioning
Decide what TGJones stands for. Is it a specialist in stationery and gifting? A home for crafts and hobbies? A convenience-led community retailer? It cannot be all things to all people.
Right-size the store estate
Focus on profitable locations and exit those that cannot be salvaged. Quality over quantity is the path to sustainability.
Use transitional messaging
If the WHSmith name cannot be used, lean into familiarity without confusion. Make the story part of the message. Explain why the change matters and how it benefits the customer.
Introduce modern services
Add click-and-collect, local delivery, or hybrid partnerships with community groups. Make the store more than a place to buy pens and birthday cards.
Brand Equity Is Earned, Not Assumed
At Arx Nova, we specialise in stabilisation and strategic clarity. What concerns us about the WHSmith high street sale is not the financial logic, it is the execution on brand and customer perception that raises questions.
TGJones starts life with no advantage beyond store count. The brand name is unfamiliar. The store proposition is unchanged. The public reaction has been lukewarm at best, and the opportunity to build trust, equity and loyalty is being missed with every passing day.
It does not have to be this way. With investment, vision and a clear customer proposition, TGJones could still become a reinvention story, but that journey starts with acknowledging what has been lost, and making strategic decisions that go far beyond a change in name.
This is one to watch. Closely.
Who’s behind this post?
Simon Larkin
Director & Co-Founder
Simon Larkin is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Chartered Marketer. As Co-Founder of Arx Nova, he brings over 20 years of experience in crisis communications and marketing. Simon works with leadership teams to manage reputational risk, control the narrative, and restore stakeholder confidence during periods of uncertainty.
