July 13th 2004

WHSmith UK Retail has announced the appointment of Entertainment UK (E.UK) to supply and distribute the music offer to its 545 UK High Street stores, with effect from August 2004.

The appointment of E.UK is designed to consolidate the supply chain in this area, improve efficiency and reduce costs. WHSmith will work with E.UK in product selection and inventory management for its stores, ensuring that the right product offer is in place with excellent product availability levels.

Steve Heald, Business Unit Director for Entertainment at WHSmith said: "Consolidating our supply chain will enable us to improve our in-store offer to customers, whilst also streamlining our distribution. E.UK is recognised as the leading wholesale distributor for entertainment products and their expertise will help us ensure that we deliver a relevant music offer in WHSmith High Street stores."

Lloyd Wigglesworth, Managing Director of Entertainment UK commented "WHSmith are an important name on the high street and we are delighted to have been chosen to work with them."