Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[SuspectUsual]

Many motorway junctions have a supermarket within a few minutes drive

Off The Junction – Smarter motorway journeys

Practical, independent guides to UK motorways, junctions and service stations. Save time, money and stress on every journey.

www.offthejunction.co.uk

 

[Nym]

Off The Junction – Smarter motorway journeys

Practical, independent guides to UK motorways, junctions and service stations. Save time, money and stress on every journey.

www.offthejunction.co.uk

One hopes they acknowledge more motorways than the M1 and M25 at some point.

If you are stuck with an MSA, it's better to use Waitrose or M&S Concessions anyway compared with the WHSmith Travel units.

Although, having just gotten back from a long roadtrip, we get so many things wrong in this country on motorway services.

 

[Dai Corner]

Off The Junction – Smarter motorway journeys

Practical, independent guides to UK motorways, junctions and service stations. Save time, money and stress on every journey.

www.offthejunction.co.uk

Years ago, before the internet and Sat Navs which will guide you to the nearest petrol station, supermarket etc, I bought a book 'Just off the Motorway' with the same sort of information. I probably still have it.

 

[jon81uk]

If you are stuck with an MSA, it's better to use Waitrose or M&S Concessions anyway compared with the WHSmith Travel units.

For food items generally yes I agree, but for chilled drinks the 2 for £5 or similar can be better value in WHS Travel compared to the tiny supermarkets. Although best advice is to compare prices and buy the cheapest that meets your needs.

 

[BuhSnarf]

Most of the WHSmith at service stations aren't actually WHS owned, they're ran by Welcome Break / Moto / Roadchef. The ones at Extra are WHS owned. The service stations were the first time that WHS did franchising.

All airport, train stations, hospitals are WHS owned. In fact quite a few M&S Food and Costa in hospitals are actually owned by WHS too.

 

[STINT47]

The only thing I would miss TG Jones for is magazines. I have a branch in my town and I use it to buy magazines that are not available anywhere else.

If they went then I would either have to read them electronically, but I prefer print or subscribe, but that's a large up front payment so I don't know if I would.

If I ran a magazine the news about store closures and possibly the entire company going would be a worry.

 

[johntea]

At one point they were selling toothpaste in hospitals for £7.99 which they claimed was a 'pricing error' when caught out...

I totally understand the aim of companies to make a profit but WHS take it to an extreme

WHSmith 'sorry' for Pinderfields Hospital £7.99 toothpaste

The retailer blamed a pricing error and said total proceeds from the sales would be donated to charity.

www.bbc.co.uk

WHSmith has admitted it made more than £700 by selling single tubes of toothpaste for £7.99 in a hospital.

The Pinderfields Hospital branch in Wakefield was caught selling Colgate, normally priced at £2.49, by a visitor.

The retailer apologised for what it called a pricing error, and said proceeds from the sales would be donated to charity St George's Crypt.

In 2015, WHSmith was accused of exploiting hospital customers after it was found charging less in other shops.

The retailer said 89 tubes of toothpaste had been sold in the Pinderfields shop while they were priced at £7.99.

 

[jon0844]

I felt like photographing some of the ridiculous prices at the Lister hospital (Stevenage) shop also run by WH Smith but opted not to given I was visiting a family member and didn't want to cause any problems. I have zero doubt they know what they're doing and such exposures of blatant profiteering hasn't made them review all of their pricing.

I get that they argue the need to charge high prices in a service area because of supposed high rates, but at a hospital? Are they really charged that much? They also have minimal staffing and I've been in stores with no visible staff at all (see before when they had a button to summon staff who weren't on the shop floor at all).

 

[EYFanatic]

All airport, train stations, hospitals are WHS owned. In fact quite a few M&S Food and Costa in hospitals are actually owned by WHS too.

What about the one at Dover ferry terminal?

 

[route101]

Most of the WHSmith at service stations aren't actually WHS owned, they're ran by Welcome Break / Moto / Roadchef. The ones at Extra are WHS owned. The service stations were the first time that WHS did franchising.

All airport, train stations, hospitals are WHS owned. In fact quite a few M&S Food and Costa in hospitals are actually owned by WHS too.

I have noticed some stranger items in the motorway service WH Smiths and different price labels.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2026 ==

For food items generally yes I agree, but for chilled drinks the 2 for £5 or similar can be better value in WHS Travel compared to the tiny supermarkets. Although best advice is to compare prices and buy the cheapest that meets your needs.

I find them 3 for 2 etc offers no good for solo travellers though, I just want one drink at a decent price. WH Smith does often do a promotional drink at £1, though not always chilled in a fridge.

 

[Peter Sarf]

My aim is to top up a water bottle with lemon and lime squash and tap water before I leave home. So I am not subsidising greed. I have never entered the shops at motorway service stations. But if everyone was like me then perhaps the result would be no - er loos.

 

[_toommm_]

John Lewis are planning to close all their physical bureau de changes and gift wrap services. The former not a surprise, but the proposal, which isn't in the press, is that they'll get rid of all customer service departments in-store, with around 200 redundancies.

 

[BuhSnarf]

What about the one at Dover ferry terminal?

Dover Ferry Terminal is ran by Moto as a franchise.

I have noticed some stranger items in the motorway service WH Smiths and different price labels.

Yes, you'll likely notice that the shelf edge labels in a motorway service WHS are the same as the ones you see in the corresponding petrol station as they are using Welcome Break/Moto or Roadchef's IT system - it's why you'll notice that the till is the same as the one they have in some of the other outlets. The staff are also employed by Welcome Break etc, so will often rotate between different units (KFC/Burger King etc.)

WHS *did* experiment with franchising on the high street (WHSmith Local) but this was fairly short lived and quietly phased out as it created all sorts of brand quality nightmares.

 

[Andyh82]

I have noticed some stranger items in the motorway service WH Smiths and different price labels.

Yes there used to be a Twitter account that would focus on the strange items you’d see in the motorway stores, wooden owls etc, but you’d never see them at any other WHSmith format so im sure it was some buyer at either Moto or Welcome Break who was buying them rather than WHS. The WHS stores were previously just branded as “Shop” before the motorway operators pivoted to using well known brands rather than in house brands.

 

[sprunt]

WHS *did* experiment with franchising on the high street (WHSmith Local) but this was fairly short lived and quietly phased out as it created all sorts of brand quality nightmares.

Yes, all the products were attractively displayed in well maintained shops and head office weren't having that, didn't fit in with the brand image at all.

 

[styles]

WHS *did* experiment with franchising on the high street (WHSmith Local) but this was fairly short lived and quietly phased out as it created all sorts of brand quality nightmares.

Probably decided it would cost to much to actually have adequate lighting.

 

[BuhSnarf]

Yes, all the products were attractively displayed in well maintained shops and head office weren't having that, didn't fit in with the brand image at all.

Hahah, you'd think. But actually the local stores made the WHS stores look good. Essentially they were rebranded corner shops.

 

[styles]

Don't want to link to the Sun but a relevant bit. Beefeater to be gone in 6 weeks' time:

A letter to Beefeater reward club members, seen by the Southend Echo, has confirmed all of the sites will close on September 10.

“As you may have seen, we have recently announced changes to our business, which is resulting in the closure of our Branded Restaurants.

“This means that on Thursday 10 September 2026 your local Beefeater and all other UK Beefeaters will close.”

The mass closures come as part of a restructuring by parent company Whitbread, which will also see the Brewers Fayre and Bar + Block brands vanish.

 

[route101]

Don't want to link to the Sun but a relevant bit. Beefeater to be gone in 6 weeks' time:

Interesting, wonder what will happen to Bar and Block, I had a somewhat decent meal in the Milton Keynes branch.

 

[BuhSnarf]

Interesting, wonder what will happen to Bar and Block, I had a somewhat decent meal in the Milton Keynes branch.

My understanding from their press releases are they are going to be a hotel company only, therefore Bar & Block is going the way of Beefeater.

 

[308165]

I can understand why they would want to get rid of Bar & Block where they are the restaurant for a hotel. I stayed in one in Glasgow with work with a package that tied me to the hotel restaurant. I was quite content to have a steak for the one night I was there, but the menu was very limited beyond burger and steak, not as diverse as a Thyme restaurant, so perhaps they want something targetted at a wider audience of hotel residents?

 

[Dai Corner]

I can understand why they would want to get rid of Bar & Block where they are the restaurant for a hotel. I stayed in one in Glasgow with work with a package that tied me to the hotel restaurant. I was quite content to have a steak for the one night I was there, but the menu was very limited beyond burger and steak, not as diverse as a Thyme restaurant, so perhaps they want something targetted at a wider audience of hotel residents?

From Whitbread themselves

For guest information: Whitbread Branded Restaurants are open and trading​

18 Jun 2026 Brand

Whitbread’s Branded Restaurants including Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Bar + Block, Table Table, Whitbread Inns and Cookhouse + Pub are open and trading and continue to welcome guests across the UK. We are sharing this information to help guests after some Artificial Intelligence (AI) sources are incorrectly reporting that following our announcement on 30 April 2026, some restaurants have already closed.

For further context, here is the news which was shared as part of Whitbread’s Results earlier this year:

“Whitbread has announced (April 30) that, as part of its proposed new Five-Year Plan, it intends to become a pure-play hotel business focused on Premier Inn, the UK’s number one hotel brand, which is synonymous with quality and value.

“This change will involve exiting all of our remaining branded restaurants, which trade under brands including Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, a number of which will be converted into approximately 600 additional Premier Inn rooms, with the remainder expected to be sold as going concerns.

“The proposed changes announced today build on the success of our Accelerating Growth Plan, announced in 2024, which involved the conversion of over 200 branded restaurants to additional rooms, and the creation of an integrated restaurant in each hotel. This format has proved highly popular with guests and under the proposal, it would be rolled out to all hotels where there is currently a branded restaurant.

“We recognise the impact of this proposal on colleagues who work at the affected sites. As a business which recruits around 15,000 people every year, we expect to be able to retain a significant proportion of those affected and will be looking to redeploy as many of our impacted colleagues as possible. However, we do anticipate that the proposed changes, which are subject to consultation, would result in a reduction of around 3,800 roles of a total UK and Ireland workforce of around 30,000. We will do all we can to support those colleagues affected.”

ENDS

 

[Harpo]

Whitbread’s Branded Restaurants..... some Artificial Intelligence (AI) sources are incorrectly reporting that following our announcement on 30 April 2026, some restaurants have already closed.

Sounds like PR folk need to think very carefully about the 'garbage out' end of AI?

 

[DM352]

Just look at the prices they charge at stations, 2 bottles of 500ml pop for a mere £5. Even the promotional drinks they do for a £1 (or £1.50 in some London stations) are normally left out in the open at room temperature rather than taking up space within a chiller (and on a hot day I can't think of anything less appealing than a bottle of room temperature sprite mint.

Got two cokes at Smiths at Heathrow Terminal 2 at arrivals for £3.99 each. Is the most expensive ones in a long while and cannot see them closing with their captive market.Next time will drink more water in the plane and give Smiths a miss.

 

[Nym]

Got two cokes at Smiths at Heathrow Terminal 2 at arrivals for £3.99 each. Is the most expensive ones in a long while and cannot see them closing with their captive market.Next time will drink more water in the plane and give Smiths a miss.

Refillable water bottles for the win there.

Especially with Heathrow T2 having water points nowadays.

 

[Broucek]

Got two cokes at Smiths at Heathrow Terminal 2 at arrivals for £3.99 each. Is the most expensive ones in a long while and cannot see them closing with their captive market.Next time will drink more water in the plane and give Smiths a miss.

Yes, I won't use Smiths at the airport - and I mostly travel on company expenses....

 

[DannyMich2018]

The Poundstretcher in Hinckley (Britannia Centre) closed suddenly and without any notice on Saturday. Not surprising as never anyone is there, not much decent shops open now in the Britannia Centre hasn't helped though especially since Greggs moved out.

 

[BuhSnarf]

The Poundstretcher in Hinckley (Britannia Centre) closed suddenly and without any notice on Saturday. Not surprising as never anyone is there, not much decent shops open now in the Britannia Centre hasn't helped though especially since Greggs moved out.

Not surprising, the Britannia centre has struggled since Wilko left and the Poundstretcher never had the same appeal to drag people in.

Also not surprising as Poundstretcher as a whole also almost went under in June.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Not surprising, the Britannia centre has struggled since Wilko left and the Poundstretcher never had the same appeal to drag people in.

Also not surprising as Poundstretcher as a whole also went under in June.

Oh Crickey. We in Croydon, if our Poundstretcher goes, do not have a B&M or Home Bargains to take up the slack.

Then again I find Poundstretcher less attractive these days. Not sure why I go in.

 

[Mag_seven]

There are a few posts above that do not appear to be discussing "Companies that you expect to disappear soon" e.g. Premier Inn. The last time I looked this was not the case so please bear this in mind when posting. Thanks.