WH Smith

From Motorway Services Online

WH Smith
View pictures (12)
Locations:	80
Associated names:	Marks and Spencer Simply Food, Waitrose, Coffee Nation
Introduced:	2007
Predecessors:	reStore, Birthdays, T2, Scoop, Thorntons
Successors:	none
Website: www.whsmith.co.uk

It is no secret that the general public do not trust motorway services, so Moto's plan was to replace their retail stores with WH Smith Travel Stores - something people have a bit more faith in. After a successful trial at Toddington, Moto spent a few months refurbishing their services and wasted no time in adding a WH Smith outlet.

After Welcome Break saw this and trialled it at Newport Pagnell, and RoadChef trialled it at Watford Gap, WH Smith was declared a success all-round and by 2009 was rolled out to just about every service area in the country.

The stores stock snacks, travel accessories and stationary, although like at railways and airports the prices are much more than you would expect from an equivalent high street store. Many also have Coffee Nation units inside them.

Locations

• Abington (M74/A74(M))
• Annandale Water (A74(M))
• Baldock (A1(M)/A1)
• Beaconsfield (M40)
• Birch (M62)
• Birchanger Green (M11)
• Blyth (A1(M)/A1)
• Bothwell (M74)
• Bridgwater (M5)
• Burton-in-Kendal (M6)
• Cardiff Gate (M4)
• Cardiff West (M4)
• Charnock Richard (M6)
• Cherwell Valley (M40/A43)
• Chester (M56)
• Chieveley (M4/A34)
• Clacket Lane (M25)
• Corley (M6)
• Cullompton (M5)
• Doncaster (North) (M18/M180)
• Donington Park (M1/A42/A50)
• Durham (A1(M))
• Exeter (M5)
• Ferrybridge (M62/A1)
• Fleet (M3)
• Folkestone (M20)
• Frankley (M5)
• Gordano (M5)
• Gretna Green (A74(M))
• Hamilton (M74)
• Hartshead Moor (M62)
• Heston (M4)
• Hilton Park (M6)
• Hopwood Park (M42)
• Keele (M6)
• Killington Lake (M6)
• Kinross (M90)
• Knutsford (M6)
• Lancaster (M6)
• Leicester Forest East (M1)
• Leigh Delamere (M4)
• London Gateway (M1)
• Lymm (M6/M56)
• Maidstone (M20)
• Medway (M2)
• Membury (M4)
• Michaelwood (M5)
• Newport Pagnell (M1)
• Northampton (M1)
• Norton Canes (M6 Toll)
• Oxford (M40/A40)
• Pease Pottage (M23/A23)
• Pont Abraham (M4)
• Reading (M4)
• Rownhams (M27)
• Sandbach (M6)
• Sedgemoor (North) (M5) (northbound only)
• Sedgemoor (South) (M5) (southbound only)
• Severn View (M48)
• South Mimms (M25/A1(M))
• Southwaite (M6)
• Stafford (North) (M6) (northbound only)
• Stafford (South) (M6) (southbound only)
• Stirling (M9/M80)
• Strensham (M5)
• Swansea (M4)
• Tamworth (M42/A5)
• Taunton Deane (M5)
• Telford (M54)
• Thurrock (M25/A13/A282)
• Tibshelf (M1)
• Toddington (M1)
• Trowell (M1)
• Warwick (M40)
• Watford Gap (M1)
• Washington (A1(M))
• Wetherby (A1(M))
• Winchester (M3)
• Woodall (M1)
• Woolley Edge (M1)

A-road Services

• Derby South (A6/A50)
• Dover Port (A20)
• Grantham North (A1)
• Scotch Corner (A1/A66)

Former Locations

WH Smith used to operate at:

• Folkestone (M20)

Comments and Reviews

Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums.
Author: Message: The Insider Further to other comments, all the mags and newspapers in WH Smith at service areas are all sold at RRP, that's something they can't get away from. A little querk of the system, is that all the mags and news at WH Smith Charnock, are not supplied by WH Smith themselves, they are supplied by Menzies and Dawson news, as WH Smith do not have a distribution contract for that area. So they have to rely on there competitors to supply them with stock, WH Smiths by the short and curlies.... Oh and the staff don't work for WH Smiths they work for Welcome Break, hence why they are on 2p more than minimum wage, think about that the next time you kick off about prices! They are commited to a 10 year franchise deal, be interesting to see what happens when Welcome Break is sold (very soon)... Posted: 08 Jan 2008, 18:06 Roadhog Gavin wrote: I was at the WH.Smith at Southwaite in May and it was really well stocked with magazines (at RRP afaik), over-priced food and CDs at a price you would expect from an independant store- not a multi-million corporation. Only go there if you want a magazine or are suffering from food or music deprevation. That's true, but I recon that weon't stop it being a success. If you're stuck on the motorway and need to buy something - a snack for the journey or a magazine to kill time - then this is the place to go. I still wouldn't recommend you visit unless you have to, though. Posted: 10 Jul 2007, 16:37 Gavin I was at the WH.Smith at Southwaite in May and it was really well stocked with magazines (at RRP afaik), over-priced food and CDs at a price you would expect from an independant store- not a multi-million corporation. Only go there if you want a magazine or are suffering from food or music deprevation. Posted: 06 Jul 2007, 13:22 Ziathon I visited trowell early today and saw the new WHSmiths. its looking real good hopefully it will be a success Posted: 29 Nov 2006, 01:02 Admin Post your comments and reviews on WH Smith here, or you can return to WH Smith. Posted: 24 Nov 2006, 15:37
Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums.

With thanks to Michela Grant, Nicholas Lawley and the user 'grizzle' for the information used on this page.