UK high street giant puts 150 stores at risk as rebrand faces horror backlash

A UK high street giant could shutter 150 of its shops should a deal be approved by the courts. TG Jones, formerly WHSmith, has outlined a plan to close 150 storefronts across the UK and pay no rent on a further 120 shops as part of a three-year plan to save the business from insolvency.

One of the longest-surviving chain stores in the country, the high street chain has faced criticism for its controversial survival plan. Critics believe that shutting the stores as part of the survival plan does not guarantee the business will still be open in three years as outlined by the proposal.

Should a judge not give the proposal the green light next month, TG Jones faces insolvency.

Should the plans be approved then TG Jones would close down 150 of its premises. A full list has not been revealed but creditors believe the proposal does not go far enough.

Speaking with Sky News, the unnamed creditor said: “It presupposes that the company will have sufficient cash in three years to pay an upside at all while the business will still have to repay its debts.”

The creditor also called the decision to pay 12% over base rate for the Modella-owned TG Jones name “bizarre”. They added: “It is bizarre that they agreed to pay millions of pounds for a completely unknown brand in the first place.”

An executive at one of TG Jones’ landlords said it was unjust that Modella was “discounting profitable stores that on their own analysis are not overrented”.

The executive added: “Any landlord who keeps providing those stores is effectively giving a loan to the business of the amount by which the rent has been reduced – but not getting paid for it at anything like the same rates as Modella is getting.”

A TGJones spokesperson said: “We are aware of suggestions made by a small number of landlords in connection with the Restructuring Plan. We have engaged constructively with these landlords, as we have with other creditors across the estate.

“As a result of that engagement, we have improved the terms of the Plan to reflect feedback received. We believe these improvements demonstrate our commitment to achieving a satisfactory outcome for all stakeholders.”