
I would describe the culture at WHSmith as can-do. It's very fast paced, but it's very supportive too. We're one team and we do it together - get through the hard times and celebrate successes as a team!
Partnerships
Working with these partnered brands allows us to respond to growth opportunities and the changing needs of our customers, delivering evolution to our formats and ranges.
Our Hospital channel is a good example of how we continue to innovate with a strong proposition tailored to each location. We are able to offer hospital trusts a broad suite of formats and brands including WHSmith, M&S Simply Food and Costa Coffee.
WHSmith has been a franchise partner of M&S since 2012. We currently operate M&S Simply Food stores across the UK and we have M&S implants within our WHSmith stores, which are predominantly in hospitals. We continue to work with M&S as a long-standing franchise partner offering a range of high-quality products, from food options for now and later to bakery items and fresh flowers.
WHSmith partner with Costa Coffee, the nation’s favourite coffee shop brand, within the healthcare sector in the UK. We operate franchise units in Blackburn Hospital, Colchester Hospital and Churchill Hospital, Oxford. Costa Coffee deliver great coffee with pride, elevating the coffee experience to make it fun and accessible for everyone. Our units offer a welcome space to relax and enjoy a drink, as well as hot and cold food options, and complement WHSmith’s suite of brands and formats so that we can best meet the needs of our NHS partners and customers in a variety of different sized hospitals across the country.
WHSmith partner with Well Pharmacy, the third largest pharmacy chain in the UK, delivering a ‘pharmacy within a shop’ concept at a number of our UK WHSmith Travel stores. With on-site pharmacists, in selected stores, this enables time-pressed passengers to get health and wellbeing advice on the go, and allows them to buy from a range of pharmacy-only medicines.
Our premium gifting brand with stores across London Gatwick Airport, London St Pancras rail station and more, curi.o.city offers everything from clothing and gourmet food and drink to plush toys and stationery. Every gift, keepsake and memento you’ll find in our stores is from locally sourced, exclusive and iconic brands. So whether our customers are looking for something to remind them of their trip, a gift for friends and loved ones, or a little treat for themselves, curi.o.city has a gift for every journey.