1990

• The Boards of Boots and WHSmith announce the formation of a joint venture in the UK DIY retail market. The joint venture acquired the Payless (Boots) and Do It All (WHSmith) businesses, to trade under the name Do It All Limited.

• WHSmith dispose of WHSmith Travel Agencies and Television Services Division.
• Waterstone's store opens in Boston, USA.

• WHSmith Group celebrates its Bicentenary.
• WHSmith Group acquires 50% of Virgin Retail Ltd to operate its chain of 14 megastores and 12 computer games centres.
• WHSmith Music Inc acquires 59 stores from Record World and 20 stores from National Record Mart.
• The Wall music retailer is formed.

• Michael Orr joins the Board as a non-executive director.

• The businesses of Our Price and Virgin Retail are merged, with WHSmith establishing a 75% share of the business.
• Jeremy Hardie becomes Chairman.
• Proposals for the rationalisation of the Company's ordinary share capital to equalise the voting rights of the A and B ordinary shares are announced.
• Patrick Lupo joins the Board as a non-executive director.

• Waterstone's 100th branch opens in Reading.

• Bill Cockburn is appointed as Group Chief Executive and starts a major strategic review resulting in the sale of WHSmith Business Supplies to French office supplies company, Guilbert, for £142 million and WHSmith's 50% holding in Do It All to Boots PLC.
• Paperchase and Heathcote are sold.
• Hon. Philip Smith stands down from the Board, ending the Smith family involvement with the management of the Company.

• UK Travel Retail is created as a separate business.
• Bill Cockburn resigns as Group Chief Executive and Richard Handover is appointed three months later.
• WHSmith announces plans to focus on a core of integrated businesses comprising; WHSmith High Street, WHSmith Europe and International Travel Retail and WHSmith News. Following this, a demerger of Waterstone's and a divestment of interests in specialist music retailing, namely Virgin Our Price and The Wall is announced.
• The Wall is sold to Camelot Music Inc for £28m.

• Waterstone's is sold to a company jointly owned by EMI Group plc and Advent International for £300m.
• WHSmith's 75% share in Virgin Our Price is sold to Virgin Retail Group Ltd for £145m.
• WHSmith purchases the John Menzies Retail chain and the leading European internet bookshop, www.bookshop.co.uk.

• WHSmith purchases Hodder Headline, a leading UK consumer and educational publisher.
• WHSmith Online, www.whsmith.co.uk is launched.
• John Barton joins the Board as a non-executive director.
• Jeremy Hardie retires and Martin Taylor is appointed as Chairman.

• WHSmith acquires Hazelwood Enterprises Inc. for $19m and the Benjamin Company Inc. for $19m.
• John Warren is appointed Group Finance Director, succeeding Keith Hamill.

• WHSmith acquires the Blue Star Consumer Retailing Group, the leading bookseller in Australia and New Zealand, for £38m.
• Tim Hely Hutchinson is appointed Chairman of WHSmith News after the announcement that the Group had terminated discussions with ABN Amro Private Equity for the sale of WHSmith News.

• WH Smith announces the sale of Helicon to RM plc for £0.7m and acquires John Murray (Publishers) Ltd, a leading educational and consumer publishing house founded in 1768.
• WHSmith TXT is launched, a three-year community investment programme worth £1.5 million, designed to help teachers to raise literacy standards of students aged between 11-14 years in over 100 selected secondary schools across the UK.
• M T Rainey is appointed a non-executive director of the Company.

• WHSmith TXT is named as a finalist in the Business in the Community Awards for Excellence, the UK's most prestigious national awards for companies able to demonstrate the positive impact of their business on society through community programmes and business practices.
• Martin Taylor retires as Chairman of the Group and Richard Handover takes over the role, having been Group Chief Executive since 1997.
• Kate Swann is appointed as Group Chief Executive.
• WHSmith announces the sale of its US Airport and Hotel retailing businesses for £41m and £8m respectively.

• WH Smith receives a preliminary approach from Primera, a venture capitalist group, regarding a possible offer for the Company. The approach is subsequently withdrawn.
• The sale of WH Smith's ASPAC Retail business to private equity group Pacific Equity Partners is announced consisting of retail businesses in Australia (Angus & Robertson), New Zealand (Whitcoulls) and Hong Kong but excluding the Singapore Airport operations. The Singapore Airport operations are sold later in the year to TimesNewsLink Singapore.
• Hodder Headline, WH Smith's publishing business, is sold to Hachette Livre, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère S.C.A. Following the sale, Tim Hely Hutchinson resigns as Director of WH Smith PLC and Chairman of WHSmith News. Neil Monnery, Group Strategy Director, is appointed Chairman of WHSmith News.
• Following the retirement of Richard Handover, Robert Walker is appointed non-executive Chairman of WH Smith PLC.

• The Plot Against America by Philip Roth wins the 2005 WHSmith Literary Award in its final year.
• Alan Stewart is appointed Group Finance Director in succession to John Warren who stepped down from the Board on 3 March.
• WHSmith Travel wins a five year contract to open two new stores, including a specialist bookstore, WHSmith Books, at London Luton Airport from 1 July.
• Mike Ellis is appointed non-executive director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board on 30 March.
• In July, Merrill Lynch are appointed the Company's joint broker, alongside JPMorgan Cazenove.
• Luke Mayhew is appointed non-executive director on 25 July.

• 21 April, announcement of Interim Results 2006 and intention to separate the Retail and News Distribution businesses via a demerger.
• 27 June, details of separation of WHSmith Retail and News Distribution businesses via a demerger announced.
• 2 August, results of shareholders meetings regarding the separation of WHSmith Retail and News Distribution businesses via a demerger announced.
• 1 September, demerger of Retail and News
• Distribution businesses becomes effective with the creation of two separately listed entities - WH Smith PLC (formerly the Retail business) and Smiths News PLC (formerly WHSmith News).
• 23 November, WH Smith PLC announces agreements with Moto Hospitality Limited and Swayfield Group to open travel stores in UK motorway service areas.

• 19 April, WH Smith PLC announces its intention to open Post Offices in 71 High Street stores following the successful trial of Post Offices in six WHSmith stores in 2006./li>
• Travel establishes a strong presence in the motorway service area sector, opening franchise units in 50 Moto and 35 Welcome Break locations.
• 15 November, WH Smith PLC publishes its first Interim Management Statement.
• In the annual Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index, WHSmith improves its performance for the fourth successive year, achieving a Gold ranking.

• The Company completes a £90m return of cash to shareholders.
• Travel opens 28 new units during the year, including 6 at Heathrow Terminal 5, 5 at Edinburgh, 3 at Heathrow Terminal 3 and 4 at St Pancras International.
• 19 March, WHSmith announces the acquisition of UNS Group Ltd comprising 72 retail units and 8 Caffe Nuovo coffee shops in 62 hospitals. WHSmith also announces a franchise agreement with RoadChef to open Travel units in all 29 RoadChef motorway service areas.
• WHSmith acquires 23 units in 11 airports from Alpha Retail UK.
• WHSmith completes the integration of Post Offices into 82 High Street stores. In addition, Bureau de Change units are opened in a further 50 High Street stores.
• WHSmith opens 9 new High Street stores in un-served catchments and acquires 7 High Street stores from Martin McColl.
• 1 September, following the retirement of MT Rainey from the Board in January, Drummond Hall is appointed as a Non-Executive Director.
• In the annual Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index, WHSmith improves its performance for the fifth successive year, achieving a Platinum ranking.