Working in Store

High Street & Travel

High Street

We have 543 high street stores selling a wide range of newspapers, magazines, stationery, books and entertainment products. Customers can even chill out with a latte in some of our locations with in-store coffee shops. At WHSmith we are always looking at fresh ideas - just one of the reasons we have such a high-profile position on the high street.

Store Managers - High Street

What makes a great WHSmith Store Manager? Whether it’s managing one of our smaller stores right through to leading our larger out of town units – we look for the same skills and behaviours in our managers. And that’s a sharp focus on customers’ needs for a start, plus the ability to motivate a team to deliver a terrific service to everyone who walks through the door.

“I set myself tough targets and I know that if I achieve them I’ll get the recognition & opportunities to progress that I deserve”

Simon Stickland – Store Manager - Swindon

But there’s also a rich stream of commercial thinking that drives everything you do. You’ll know that big rewards come from persistence, determination and sheer hard work.

Our smaller stores are often at the heart of the community and we’ll need you to take a hands-on approach to managing all aspects of your store, doing whatever needs to be done to keep things running smoothly. Whilst in our larger stores you’ll need to demonstrate real leadership skills and the ability to deliver through your people.

For an ambitious professional with retail management experience, the role is both rewarding and challenging.

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Assistant Managers – High Street

It’s only the larger stores which have this role, so you’ll be guaranteed a high profile. You’ll work closely with the Manager, supporting them to grow and develop the business. A central part of this will be to act as their link with staff, ensuring open and effective communications. In short, you’ll make sure everyone knows what needs to be done and how they can play their part in achieving success.

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Supervisor – High Street

Our supervisors are an integral part of our management team. Dependent upon the size of the store, you could find yourself managing a product department (stationery, entertainment, news and impulse or books) or in a smaller store you’ll have responsibility for overseeing the entire sales floor. If you have strong leadership skills gained in a customer facing environment, but not necessarily in retail – then our Supervisor Designate Programme may be for you….

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Travel

We have 129 Travel Stores at airports, train stations and motorway service area locations across the country, they’re fast moving, vibrant and constantly evolving…meaning that promotion and career opportunities are good for those who are flexible in their location and exceed their objectives. Please note that many of our travel stores are open 24 hours a day, so you must have the flexibility to work a shift system.

Store Managers – Travel

Our Store Manager roles demand that you have a strong commercial focus, and the drive to

“There is nothing as fast paced and exciting in retail as WHSmith Travel. Working in the airports there is never a dull moment. Our business is not simply retail, it is also about developing landlord relationships and managing a team across a multi site business; bringing new challenges everyday.”

David de la Haye (General Manager Heathrow Terminal 1)

maximise the potential of your store. A real key to your success will be your ability to deliver outstanding results through people: to build a strong team ethos as you motivate, energise and inspire every member to deliver exceptional customer service.

You’re going to need solid management experience gained in a customer-focused environment (not necessarily retail), plus a tenacious, target-driven mentality and a decisive approach. A high level of financial awareness is important too.

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Store Management – Support and Supervisory Roles

These roles exist to deliver key support to the Manager across all of the store’s operations. Co-ordinating people and resources, exceeding sales targets, overseeing security, stock control… they’re a big challenge for sure. But it’s perfect if you’re the kind of person who loves stretching themselves every minute of the day.

Leadership skills are all important, because we want you to build a strong team ethos as you coach, motivate and inspire everyone to deliver the very best customer service. Commercially focused and driven to achieve exceptional results, you’ll bring proven management experience gained in a customer-focused environment.

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Our Designate Programmes

We operate two programmes:-
Our three-month Store Manager Designate Programme operates in both our High Street and Travel Stores. It’s designed to give experienced managers the opportunity to learn every aspect of our diverse and complex business, before taking the reigns of your own store. The programme combines on the job and classroom training, ensuring that you are paired up with an experienced high performing top manager as a mentor.

Our Designate programme has been very successful and gives individuals from all retail environments a fantastic chance to learn how to be a leading member of the WHSmith team.

Supervisor Designate Programme – 4 months of training while you are gaining hands on store experience, combined with workbooks and a short residential training course.

Sales Assistants

We welcome application for our sales assistant vacancies in all our stores. Download the PDF version of our application form and send it to your local store. Due to the high volume of applications we regret that we can only respond to candidates short-listed for interview