STAFF at a store in Ross-on-Wye Town Centre could find their jobs are at risk after it was announced eight former WH Smith stores would close immediately and up to 100 others face a similar fate.

The investment company, Modella Capital, bought WH Smith’s high street stores last year in a £76m deal and rebranded them all to TG Jones.

However, the firm has now announced a radical restructuring of the chain due to what it calls ‘weak consumer spending’.

Critics have previously argued that the name change to a fictitious family brand has turned previously loyal customers away from the business and it was inevitable that stores would close soon after its 12-month deal over the moratorium on closures with WH Smith expires.

WHSmith retained its travel business, which operates from locations such as railway stations and airports.

Modella has also been rationalising parts of its wider retail portfolio, with recent closures across other businesses it owns blamed on difficult trading conditions and increased operating costs.

The potential closure of many TG Jones stores could include Ross-on-Wye and it would follow on from another high street chain, Original Factory Shop, also owned by Modella, which ceased trading earlier this year.

The business of TG Jones had previously set out ambitions to grow the estate to more than 500 stores and position TG Jones as a ‘hub of the high street’. However, the retailer is reported to have struggled since the rebrand.

The Guardian reports Modella would like rent reductions on hundreds more locations for another year.

Some 5,000 people work for the business across the country in the 464 stores across Britain’s high streets and alongside the low consumer spend in-store, TG Jones also blames government policy for the increasing costs of staying open