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TGJones
TGJones is the planned name for the high street retail business of WHSmith, following the completion of its divestment and sale to Modella Capital, which also owns Hobbycraft and The Original Factory Shop. The sale value of the shops was £76 million. WHSmith expect the sale to be completed at the end of June 2025. The name 'TGJones' is not derived from any individual, but was chosen to " eflectthese stores being at the heart of everyone's high street". In terms of branding, TGJones is expected to be similar to WHSmith, with a similar text mark and blue-and-white colour scheme. Sale and transition WHSmith opted to sell the business in order to focus on its larger travel retail operation which accounted for 75% of its trading revenue and 85% of its profits in the last financial year. The WHSmith brand will be retained by the WHSmith group for its travel retail shops and other activities, meaning the high street business will need to be rebranded. Despite not being related to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WHSmith
WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery. The company was formed by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in 1792 as a news vendor in London. It remained under the ownership of the Smith family for many years and saw large-scale expansion during the 1970s as the company began to diversify into other markets. Following a rejected private equity takeover in 2004, the company began to focus on its core retail business. It was responsible for the creation of the ISBN book identifier. The company reached an agreement in 2025 to sell its high street store business to Modella Capital. Upon completion of the sale, that business will be renamed TGJones. WHSmith is listed on the Lond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modella Capital
Modella Capital Limited is a British private equity firm, founded in August 2022. Investments * Hobbycraft (bought August 2024) * The Original Factory Shop (bought February 2025) * TGJones (pending, announced in March 2025) * Ted Baker Ted Baker is a British clothing brand founded in 1988 in Glasgow, Scotland, which traded in shops under the Ted Baker name until falling into administration in March 2024. It was relaunched online in November 2024. The brand is styled as 'Ted B ... (lender, collapsed in April 2024) References {{reflist External linksModella Capital Financial services companies established in 2023 Restructuring [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toys "R" Us
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. While originally considered a category killer, the rise of mass merchants and online retailers cost Toys "R" Us its share of the toy market. The company was further hampered by a significant debt load, the result of a leveraged buyout organized by private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital, and real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust, Vornado. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and 2018, closing all of its stores in the US, UK, and Australia, with the last US stores closing in 2021. Operations in other international markets such as Asia and Africa were less affected, but chains in Canada, parts of Europe and Asia were eventu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom)
The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (often referred to as the UK IPO) is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK and is an executive agency of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Responsibilities The IPO has direct administrative responsibility for examining and issuing or rejecting patents, and maintaining registers of intellectual property including patents, designs and trade marks in the UK. As in most countries, there is no statutory register of copyright and the IPO does not conduct any direct administration in copyright matters. The IPO is led by the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, who is also Registrar of Trade Marks, Registrar of Designs and Chief Executive of the IPO: * ca. 1989-1999 Paul Hartnack * 1999–2003Alison Brimelow (afterwards President of the European Patent Office) * 2004-2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym for the retail sector. While many streets, such as Camden High Street (in London), bear this name, streets with similar function but different names are often referred to as "high street". With the rapid increase in consumer expenditure, the number of High Streets in England grew from the 17th century and reached a peak in Victorian Britain, where, drawn to growing towns and cities spurred on by the Industrial Revolution, the rate of urbanisation was unprecedented. Since the latter half of the 20th century, the prosperity of High Streets has been in decline due to the growth of out-of-town shopping centres, and, since the early 21st century, the growth of online retailing, forcing many shop closures and prompting the UK government to cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobbycraft
Hobbycraft is the leading arts and crafts superstore retail chain in the United Kingdom. History The company was founded in 1995 by the Haskins Group, a nursery and garden supplier in the south of England, and was bought by investment group Bridgepoint in April 2010, and in 2024 they sold the business to Modella Capital. The stores have been blamed for putting independent craft suppliers out of business, and the amount of choice for specific hobbies has been said to be not as good as in specialised stores. Hobbycraft reported a 10% increase in sales in the beginning of 2010, and opened two new stores, with the chief executive saying arts and crafts are a low cost hobby and he believed they would do well despite difficulties in the economy. In 2010 to 2011, Hobbycraft quickly brought in a new shipping system under the guidance of Hobbycraft IT Director Mike Thomas, the former supply chain director, IT and Business Development Director for Entertainment UK and Woolworth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Original Factory Shop
The Factory Shop Limited, trading as The Original Factory Shop, is a discount department store chain that was established in 1969. It currently operates almost two hundred stores across the United Kingdom. History The Original Factory Shop was established in 1969 as part of Peter Black's retail network. Initially it sold soap manufactured by one of Black's factories. The chain now has 185 outlets. During 2010 to 2011, the chain expanded its warehouse and offices in Burnley by to provide for the future needs of the business. In August 2011, the chain did not perform as well with profits reduced, due to economic conditions and massive investment in the chain, including many store openings, expansion of headquarters and warehouse and upgrading store equipment. The chief executive of The Original Factory Shop is former Lloyds Pharmacy boss Tony Page, who replaced Angela Spindler in June 2013. In May 2010, rumours surfaced that the parent company Duke Street Capital put the chain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikkei, Inc., Nikkei, with core editorial offices across Britain, the United States and continental Europe. In July 2015, Pearson plc, Pearson sold the publication to Nikkei for Pound sterling, £844 million (US$1.32 billion) after owning it since 1957. In 2019, it reported one million paying subscriptions, three-quarters of which were digital subscriptions. In 2023, it was reported to have 1.3 million subscribers of which 1.2 million were digital. The newspaper has a prominent focus on Business journalism, financial journalism and economic analysis rather than News media, generalist reporting, drawing both criticism and acclaim. It sponsors an Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, annual book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communication Workers Union (United Kingdom)
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is the main trade union in the United Kingdom for people working for telephone, cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), postal delivery, and tech companies. It has 110,000 members in Royal Mail as well as more in many other communication companies. Formed in 1995 by the merger of the Union of Communication Workers and National Communications Union, its current general secretary is Dave Ward. Background The Communication Workers Union was formed in 1995 by the merging of the Union of Communication Workers and the National Communications Union. As of 2001, the CWU had 240,000 members. Sectors CWU members work for Royal Mail, the Post Office, BT, O2, Sky, Accenture HR Services, EE, Virgin Media and other communication companies. Members' expertise includes engineering, computing, clerical, mechanical, driving, retail, financial and manual skills. In 2020 United Tech and Allied Workers was formed as a branch of the CWU to represent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Post Office Limited
Post Office Limited, formerly Post Office Counters Limited and commonly known as the Post Office, is a state-owned retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of postal and non-postal related products including postage stamps, banking, insurance, bureau de change A bureau de change (plural bureaux de change, both ; British English) or currency exchange (Comparison of American and British English, American English) is a business where people can exchange one currency for another. Nomenclature Original ... and identity verification services to the public through its nationwide network of around 11,500 branches. Most of these branch post offices (%) are run by Franchising, franchise partners or by independent business people known as subpostmasters; Post Office Limited directly manages the remaining 1%, known as Crown post offices. Since 2020, a public enquiry has been under way into the company's actions which led to between 700 and 900 subpo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Mail
Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels). Formed in 2001, the company used the name Consignia for a brief period but changed it soon afterwards. Prior to this date, Royal Mail and Parcelforce were (along with Post Office Counters Ltd) part of the Post Office, a UK state-owned enterprise the history of which is summarised below. Long before it came to be a company name, the 'Royal Mail' brand had been used by the General Post Office to identify its distribution network (which over the centuries included horse-drawn mail coaches, horse carts and hand carts, ships, trains, vans, motorcycle combinations and aircraft). The company provides mail collection and delivery services throughout the UK. Letters and parcels are deposited in post or parcel boxes, or are collected in bul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Company Voluntary Arrangement
Under UK insolvency law an insolvent company can enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The CVA is a form of composition, similar to the personal IVA (individual voluntary arrangement), where an insolvency procedure allows a company with debt problems or that is insolvent to reach a voluntary agreement with its business creditors regarding repayment of all, or part of its corporate debts over an agreed period of time. The application for a CVA can be made by the agreement of all directors of the company, the legal administrators of the company, or the appointed company liquidator. Implementation A company voluntary arrangement can only be implemented by an insolvency practitioner (IP), who will draft a proposal for the creditors. A meeting of creditors is held to see if the CVA is accepted. As long as 75% (by debt value) of the creditors who vote agree, then the CVA is accepted. All the company creditors are then bound to the terms of the proposal whether or n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
