TGJones Store Closures: Modella Capital will close up to 150 High Street Shops
Modella Capital, the private equity owner of WHSmith high street chain, TGJones, is to close up to 150 of its 480 stores in a major overhaul that puts hundreds of retail jobs at risk.
The closure, confirmed by the BBC, marks the latest blow to a high street already battered by weak footfall, rising cost pressures and falling prices. They come almost a year after Modella swept up WHSmith's loss-making bricks-and-mortar arm in a £40m deal due in March 2025, with the WHSmith name itself excluded from the sale and retained by the listed group, which focuses on its lucrative travel deals at airports and rail stations.
A spokesperson for Modella said the decision was “not taken lightly”, citing what he described as a very difficult transaction. “While we continue to believe in the strength of the core business, TGJones has experienced very challenging trading conditions over the past year, along with many other brick and mortar retailers,” they said.
The company laid the blame squarely at the door of three criminals: the “forced” reconstruction of the company's trusty, 233-year-old WHSmith fascia, which made brand recognition almost overnight; rising labor costs as a “direct result of government policy”, a thinly veiled reference to increases in employer National Insurance contributions and higher national wages which have pressured hard-working retailers; and unspecified “geopolitical events”.
The restructuring plan, the spokesman added, “is designed to protect the core of the store's heritage and create a strong, sustainable business that can continue to serve customers for years to come”.
Modella did not specify how the cuts would be distributed across the workforce, but admitted that the plan “could lead to the closure of some stores and the loss of some roles”. The owner said it would try to save “as many jobs as possible” and acknowledged that workers are there, adding: “We recognize the impact this uncertainty will have on our colleagues, their families and the communities we serve.”
The TGJones layoffs come less than a month after Modella's tenure with another high street activist ended in collapse. Claire's, the youth jewelery and accessories chain, ceased trading in the UK and Ireland in April, closing all 154 independent stores and making 1,300 staff redundant. Modella had bought the chain's British arm out of management only last September, before putting it back into receivership after what it called a “scary” weak Christmas. The company also owns Hobbycraft, an arts and crafts retailer, raising new questions in the City about the strength of its high street portfolio.
For SME owners and independent traders who share Britain's high streets with TGJones, the planned closure is a sobering reminder that the measure offers no protection. A combination of post-budget spending increases, the ongoing shift to online spending and the loss of anchor retailers continues to shrink downtown centers quickly, with devastating consequences for the fallout and the small businesses that depend on them.
Whether Modella's TGJones-rejected legacy can find a sustainable footing without the WHSmith name above the door, and without cross-subsidy once supplied with stationery, books and Post Office concessions, will be the defining test of its reform thesis.
