All the WHSmith stores to close in weeks as chain prepares to exit UK high street after 233 years

WHSMITH will close up to 20 stores ahead of a major rebrand which will see the newsagent leave the high street forever.

This morning, the 232-year-old British business agreed to sell 500 shops in a £76million deal.

Retail investor Modella Capital snapped up the portfolio, with the stores eventually set to rebranded as TGJones.

Around 5,000 people are employed across the high street shops.

The retail investor already owns a number of British stores, including Hobby Craft and The Original Factory Shop.

WHSmith has over580 travel storesacross airports, hospitals, railway stations and motorway service areas which will continue to live on.

The group said back in January that it was looking to flog its high street arm, as it turns its focus to its money-making travel business.

The stationersaid it wanted to open 15 new shopsin airports, railway stations and hospitals before the end of 2024.

This formed part of wider plans to open 110 new branches worldwide.

WHSmith already confirmed plans to shut up to 20 stores by this May.

Last week it was confirmed its branch in Doncaster would shut up shop one last time on May 31.

It marks the end of a 57-year stint on the North Yorkshire high street, having first opened in the Frenchgate shopping centre back in 1968.

This comes on top of a string of closures made by the British business since the start of the year.

Branches inBournemouth,Lutonand Cambridgeshire have already been shut.

Meanwhile, sites in Woolwich, Newport and Suffolk are getting ready to stop serving customers in April.

The full list ofstore closuresinclude:

• Bournemouth Old Christchurch Road, Dorset– January 18
• Luton, Bedfordshire – January 18
• March, Cambridgeshire– January 25
• Basingstoke, Hampshire– February 1
• Long Eaton – February 1
• Newtown, Powys– February 15
• Winton branch in Bournemouth, Dorset– February 15
• Rhyl, Denbighshire– February 15
• Bolton, Greater Manchester– February
• Accrington, Lancashire– March 15
• Halstead, Essex – April
• Halesowen, West Midlands – April
• Diss, Norfolk– April
• Newport,Wales – April
• Haverhill, Suffolk– April 26
• Woolwich – April
• Stockton, County Durham – May
• Oldham, Greater Manchester – May
• West Mall, Frenchgate Centre Doncaster – May 31
• Orpington, Greater London – no date given yet

TROUBLE ON THE HIGH STREET

WHSmith's departure from the high street will come as a blow to many shoppers.

The brand was loved by many, with generations of customers flocking their to buy everything from Vinyl records to sweets.

It comes just a few years after rival Wilko collapsed, with the brand partially rescued by The Range.

Once seemingly resilient stores are buckling under the pressure of shoppers having less money to spend and the rise in online retailing.

Elsewhere, Pepco Group, the owner of Poundland stores in the UK, has hired hired advisory firm Teneo to oversee the sale of the business.

It comes afterPepco said it was looking at “all strategic options” to separatePoundlandfrom its brand.

The Polish group said it might turn its focus to its more profitable businesses in Europe.

The move has sparked fears over the future of Poundland's 800 stores across Britain.