'It wasn't just a workplace' WH Smith customers and former staff recall how the store touched their lives

WH Smith customers and former staff recall how the store touched their lives

- Rachel Obordo

After 233 years, the household name of WH Smith will soon disappear from Britain's high streets and the stores will be rebranded under the fictitious "family" name TGJones.

The business, which employs 5,000 staff, will sell its 480 high-street stores to Hobbycraft's owner, Modella Capital, but will retain its brand for shops in airports, stations and hospitals.

From memories of staff choosing which records to play to buying their first Parker pen, six people describe what WH Smith means to them and how the stores have changed over the years.

'It wasn't just a workplace - it was a soundtrack to my teenage years'

Ranjit was 16 when he got his first job working Saturdays at WH Smith in Warrington. "By sheer luck I landed in the coolest spot of all - the music department," said Ranjit, now a 60-year-old lecturer who lives in Leeds.

The staff chose which records were played in-store and Ranjit found himself exposed to artists such as David Bowie and the Beatles. Soon his friends were requesting their favourite songs.

"I became the go-to DJ of my little corner of WH Smith. Watching my friends nod their heads, singing along to Depeche Mode or the Human League, was just pure joy. For a teenager, that was as close to rock-star status as it got."

He worked there for two years before going to university, and earned £12 for a day's work. "It felt like a small fortune," he said.

"Looking back, I'm filled with gratitude for those days. WH Smith wasn't just a workplace - it was a soundtrack to my teenage years."

'My grandma and grandpa met while working at WH Smith'

Matthew Kempson's family have had a long association with the high-street shop, starting with his grandfather Roy, who worked at WH Smith from the 1930s to the 1970s.