Smiths News PLC
The United Kingdom's largest newspaper and magazine wholesaler, a Swindon-listed public company whose modern form dates to the 2006 separation of W.H. Smith's news-distribution business; it traded as Connect Group PLC from 2014 to 2020 and has since refocused on its core wholesaling business with
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- Established
- 2006-09-01
- Location
- Swindon, England
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Business
- Newspaper and magazine wholesaling and early-morning distribution
- Legal identity
- SMITHS NEWS PLC, company number 05195191, an active public limited company
- Registered office
- Rowan House, Cherry Orchard North, Kembrey Park, Swindon SN2 8UH
- Listing
- London Stock Exchange, ticker SNWS
- Modern corporate origin
- Became an independent company in September 2006 on separation from W.H. Smith
- Name history
- Incorporated 2 August 2004 as Brightway Services Limited; named Smiths News PLC from June 2006; renamed Connect Group PLC in April 2014; returned to the Smiths News PLC name in November 2020
- Leadership
- Jonathan (Jon) Bunting, Chief Executive Officer; Richard Clay, Chief Financial Officer
- Stated scale
- The company states it delivers to over 22,000 customers across England and Wales on a daily basis
- Market position
- The company describes itself as the UK's largest news wholesaler; trade press likewise identifies it as the UK's largest newspaper and magazine wholesaler
- FY2025 revenue
- £1,064.0 million
- FY2025 adjusted operating profit
- £39.1 million
- FY2025 profit after tax
- £27.0 million
Overview
Smiths News PLC is the United Kingdom’s largest wholesaler of newspapers and magazines, a Swindon-headquartered public company listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker SNWS (Investegate). The Companies House record identifies the legal entity as SMITHS NEWS PLC, company number 05195191, an active public limited company with its registered office at Rowan House, Cherry Orchard North, Kembrey Park, Swindon (Companies House). The company describes itself as the UK’s largest news wholesaler and a leading provider of early-morning, end-to-end supply chain solutions, and states that it delivers to over 22,000 customers across England and Wales on a daily basis (Investegate). Chief executive is Jonathan (Jon) Bunting; the March 2026 regulatory announcement names Richard Clay as chief financial officer (Investegate).
Corporate history
The modern company is legally distinct from W.H. Smith the retailer, though the two share a history. According to the Companies House record, the company was incorporated on 2 August 2004 as Brightway Services Limited and renamed Smiths News PLC in June 2006 (Companies House). It became an independent company in September 2006 when W.H. Smith’s news-distribution business was separated from the retail operation (The Grocer; Better Retailing). The company’s management invokes a brand heritage “going back over 200 years” to the W.H. Smith news-vending business, a claim reported in 2014 by The Grocer quoting the then Smiths News managing director (The Grocer).
In April 2014 the company changed its name to Connect Group PLC, trading under the new name from 23 April 2014, as part of a strategy to become a more diversified specialist distribution business (London Stock Exchange Regulatory News). The rebrand created three divisions — Connect News and Media, Connect Books (combining Bertrams, Dawson Books and Wordery) and Connect Education and Care — with a stated ambition to derive half of operating profit from outside newspaper and magazine wholesaling by 2016 (The Grocer).
The diversification push led to the November 2014 agreement to acquire Tuffnells Parcels Express, a next-day business-to-business delivery service, for £113.4 million, partly funded by a £55 million rights issue; chief executive Mark Cashmore called it “significantly earnings enhancing” and said it accelerated the diversification strategy (Alliance News). The deal did not work out as planned. In April 2020 Connect Group announced the proposed sale of Tuffnells to Palm Bidco for £15 million of deferred consideration, saying group ownership afforded “no material synergies” and that the business had become a significant drag on profit and cash flow; Tuffnells had reported an adjusted operating loss of £14.1 million on revenues of £164.4 million for the year to August 2019 (London Stock Exchange Regulatory News). The buyer was backed by turnaround investors brought together by Broad Oak Support Services, and the group also agreed a £10.5 million term loan facility to support Tuffnells’ turnaround (London Stock Exchange Regulatory News).
In November 2020 the company changed its name back from Connect Group PLC to Smiths News PLC, with chief executive Jonathan Bunting saying the move signalled “our confidence in the core news and magazine business and its ability to deliver value to all our stakeholders” (Alliance News); the Companies House record confirms the Connect Group name period ended on 2 November 2020 (Companies House). Tuffnells itself later entered administration in June 2023 (Pensions Age).
Operations and publisher contracts
Smiths News sits between publishers and retailers in the UK news supply chain, and its recent history has been defined by a rolling programme of long-term publisher contract renewals. In December 2024 it secured a new contract with Reach PLC — publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star and OK! magazine among more than 120 media brands — covering all of its current UK distribution territories through to 2029 and representing about £160 million of revenue a year at then-current market values; the company said it had thereby secured long-term contracts with 91% of its newspaper and magazine revenues (Alliance News). In March 2026 it renewed its contract with Guardian News and Media through to 2031, completing the last of the material contracts in its 2024–2026 renewal round and taking long-term coverage to over 96% of newspaper and magazine revenues through to 2029 (Investegate).
The largest single development came in June 2026, when Smiths News signed a 10-year exclusive wholesale distribution agreement with News UK and Ireland covering The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times across Great Britain from July 2027 through to 2037. The contract is worth an extra £125 million a year in revenue, requires Smiths News to expand its national footprint (with one-off implementation costs expected in FY2027), and commits the wholesaler to freezing delivery service charges for retail customers for the life of the contract (Business Live). Bunting described the deal as deepening a relationship spanning more than 50 years and called it a “significant milestone” in securing a sustainable future for print news distribution (Business Live).
Beyond print, the company’s stated growth initiatives build on its warehousing, reverse-logistics and early-morning final-mile capabilities, including a waste recycling collection service, the delivery of books and home entertainment, and expanded final-mile services (Investegate).
Financial performance
For the year to August 2025 (FY2025), Smiths News reported revenue of £1,064 million, down 3.6% on the previous year, reflecting the long-term volume decline in newspapers and magazines; adjusted operating profit was £39.1 million and profit after tax rose to £27.0 million from £24.7 million, with earnings per share of 11.1p against 10.3p a year earlier (Business Live). Revenues from new verticals grew 16%, the company reported 93% of revenues secured to 2029, and free cash flow improved to £36.1 million from £23.0 million, helped by a £5.4 million recovery from the administrators of McColl’s Retail Group (Business Live). Bunting called it a “strong financial and operational performance” and said a three-year internal investment programme to boost service and efficiency was advancing on schedule (Business Live).
Pension-regulator warning
In February 2026 Smiths News disclosed that the UK Pensions Regulator had issued it a warning notice and was considering a financial support direction against the company in relation to the Tuffnells Parcels Express Pension Scheme, a power that can impose funding obligations without any finding of wrongdoing (Pensions Age; Business Live). The regulator estimated the scheme’s section 75 debt — the maximum it could seek in aggregate from all targeted parties — at £3,467,000. Smiths News owned Tuffnells, the scheme’s sponsoring employer, from December 2014 to May 2020; the board said it was reviewing the notice with advisers and maintained that it had acted reasonably as parent and had been an overall net contributor of funding to Tuffnells (Pensions Age).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not treat the history of W.H. Smith the retailer as the corporate history of Smiths News PLC; the two have been separate companies since the 2006 separation, and the profile keeps the 1792-era lineage as company-invoked brand heritage rather than an independently verified founding date. It does not present the company-stated scale figure (over 22,000 daily customers) or market-position descriptions as independently measured current metrics. It does not assert the exact calendar day of the 2006 demerger, which the sources read here confirm at month precision only. It does not take a position on the unresolved Pensions Regulator warning notice, and it flags — rather than silently resolving — the one press report that misstates the end of the Tuffnells ownership period as 2023 rather than 2020.
Timeline
- 2004-08-02
- The company is incorporated as Brightway Services Limited, according to the Companies House record.
- 2006
- The company is renamed Smiths News PLC in June 2006 and becomes an independent company in September 2006 on the separation of W.H. Smith's news-distribution business.
- 2014-04-22
- Smiths News PLC changes its name to Connect Group PLC, trading under the new name from the next day, as part of a diversification strategy.
- 2014-11-12
- Connect Group agrees to buy Tuffnells Parcels Express for £113.4 million, partly funded by a £55 million rights issue.
- 2020-04-15
- Connect Group announces the proposed sale of Tuffnells to Palm Bidco for £15 million of deferred consideration, citing an absence of synergies and the business's financial drag on the group.
- 2020-11
- The company changes its name back from Connect Group PLC to Smiths News PLC, signalling renewed confidence in its core news and magazine business.
- 2024-12-10
- Smiths News secures a new contract with Reach PLC through to 2029, representing revenues of about £160 million a year at current market values, taking long-term contracts to 91% of newspaper and magazine revenues.
- 2025-11-04
- The company reports full-year results for FY2025: revenue of £1,064 million, adjusted operating profit of £39.1 million and profit after tax of £27.0 million, with 16% revenue growth from new verticals.
- 2026-02-23
- Smiths News discloses a warning notice from the UK Pensions Regulator, which is considering a financial support direction against the company in relation to the pension scheme of Tuffnells Parcels Express, the former group subsidiary that entered administration in June 2023.
- 2026-03-19
- Smiths News renews its long-term distribution contract with Guardian News and Media through to 2031, completing its 2024-2026 publisher contract round with over 96% of newspaper and magazine revenues secured to 2029.
- 2026-06-17
- Smiths News signs a 10-year exclusive wholesale distribution agreement with News UK and Ireland, covering The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times across Great Britain from July 2027 through to 2037, worth an extra £125 million a year in revenue.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The exact completion date of the 2006 demerger is commonly given as 1 September 2006, but the sources read in this pass confirm September 2006 at month precision (The Grocer) and the June 2006 renaming (Companies House); the profile uses September 2006 rather than asserting the exact day.
- One Alliance News report on the Tuffnells pension matter states Smiths News owned the scheme "from December 2014 to May 2023," which conflicts with the company's own regulatory announcement and Pensions Age, both of which give May 2020 as the end of ownership; this profile follows the latter two sources and flags the conflict.
- The company's management invokes a brand heritage "going back over 200 years" to the W.H. Smith news-vending business; the precise 1792 founding claim was not independently verified against a primary historical source in this pass and is stated here only as company-invoked heritage.
- The outcome of the Pensions Regulator's warning notice — whether a financial support direction will be issued and at what value — was unresolved at the time of writing.
- The News UK agreement announced in June 2026 is conditional in part on Smiths News expanding its national footprint ahead of the July 2027 start date; implementation costs are expected in FY2027.
Sources
12 sources (4 tier 1, 8 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
This profile is built from sources the researcher fetched and read in full: the Companies House company record, London Stock Exchange regulatory announcements, and independent UK business and trade press. Regulatory announcements are company-issued but published through the London Stock Exchange's news service; they are treated as first-party for operational claims and as tier1 for the fact of the announcement itself. The BBC, Guardian and Financial Times demerger coverage cited in the earlier version of this profile could not be re-verified in this research environment and has been replaced with independently read trade-press and corporate-record sources. Company-stated scale and market-position figures are attributed as such and not presented as independently measured current metrics.
- SMITHS NEWS PLC overview Tier 1Supports: Legal identity (company number 05195191, active PLC), registered office, incorporation date of 2 August 2004, and the full previous-name history with dates. Open original source
- Supports: The regulatory announcement of the name change to Connect Group PLC, effective trading under the new name from 23 April 2014. Open original source
- Supports: The proposed £15 million deferred-consideration sale of Tuffnells to Palm Bidco, the board's reasons (no synergies, financial drag), Tuffnells' £14.1 million adjusted operating loss for FY2019, and the chairman succession update. Open original source
- Supports: The Guardian News and Media contract renewal through to 2031, over 96% of revenues secured to 2029, the company-stated scale of over 22,000 daily customers across England and Wales, and the named CEO and CFO. Open original source
- Supports: The 2014 renaming rationale and divisional structure, the statement that the group became an independent company in September 2006, and management's invocation of a 200-plus-year brand heritage. Open original source
- Supports: Independent confirmation that the company separated from WHSmith eight years before 2014, and the diversification rationale for the Connect Group name. Open original source
- Supports: The agreed £113.4 million acquisition of Tuffnells Parcels Express, the £55 million rights issue funding, and CEO Mark Cashmore's diversification rationale. Open original source
- Supports: The change of name from Connect Group back to Smiths News, and CEO Jonathan Bunting's statement of confidence in the core news and magazine business. Open original source
- Supports: The Reach PLC contract through to 2029 worth about £160 million a year, the 91% long-term revenue coverage figure, and CEO Jon Bunting's comment. Open original source
- Supports: FY2025 results (revenue £1,064 million, profit after tax £27 million, EPS 11.1p), 16% growth from new verticals, free cash flow of £36.1 million including the McColl's recovery, and the CEO's expansion and investment programme comments. Open original source
- Supports: The Pensions Regulator's warning notice, the £3,467,000 section 75 debt estimate, the December 2014 to May 2020 ownership period, and the board's response. Open original source
- Supports: The 10-year exclusive News UK and Ireland distribution agreement from July 2027 to 2037, the extra £125 million a year in revenue, the delivery-service-charge freeze, and corroboration of the Tuffnells pension warning and ownership dates. Open original source
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