Pharmacy boost for WH Smith

WH SMITH is expanding its travel business by putting pharmacies in its airport shops.

The retailer has enlarged its store in Gatwick airport’s North Terminal after beauty chain Boots closed its shop next door.

Stephen Clarke, chief executive of WH Smith, said: ‘It’s a one-stop shop. It has all the stuff a WH Smith would normally sell in an airport and all the stuff that Boots would normally sell in an airport, all under one roof.’

The tie-up with Well Pharmacy could be rolled out further but Clarke said there were no plans for High Street pharmacies.

WH Smith’s booming travel business – at airports, train stations and hospitals – has helped offset declines elsewhere.

Sales at WH Smith’s High Street division fell 2pc in the six months to February 28 but its travel business racked up a 3pc rise.

Despite the fall, WH Smith said it was the second best trading performance for its High Street business in a decade. Analyst Laith Khalaf of Hargreaves Lansdown said the statistic ‘sums up the state of UK retail’.

Profits fell to £65m compared with £82m a year earlier following its purchase of US firm InMotion. Shares increased 2.3pc, or 48p, to 2186p.