Holding in Company

Smith WH PLC
14 March 2001


                  DEALINGS BY SUBSTANTIAL SHAREHOLDERS


1)   NAME OF COMPANY

     WH SMITH PLC

2)   NAME OF SHAREHOLDER HAVING A MAJOR INTEREST

     THE PRUDENTIAL ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED

3)   Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of 
     holding of the Shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a 
     non-beneficial interest or in the case of an individual holder if it is a
     holding of that person's spouse or children under the age of 18

     SEE LETTER BELOW DATED 12 MARCH 2001

4)   Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the 
     number of shares held by each of them.

     SEE LETTER BELOW DATED 12 MARCH 2001

5)   Number of shares/amount of stock acquired.

     N/A

6)   (N/A %) of issued Class

7)   Number of shares/amount of stock disposed

     N/A

8)   (N/A %) of issued Class

9)   Class of security

     ORDINARY SHARES OF 55 5/9 PENCE EACH

10)  Date of transaction

     N/A

11)  Date company informed

     14 MARCH 2001

12)  Total holding following this notification

     7,405,125
               
13)  Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification

     2.97%

14)  Any additional information

     

15)  Name of contact and telephone number for queries

     A LAM    [phone]

16)  Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for 
     making this notification

     Date of Notification ......14 MARCH 2001..................


Letter to W.H. Smith Plc
12 March 2001

Companies Act 1985 (as amended)
Disclosure of Interests in Shares

In accordance with Part VI of the Companies Act 1985 (as amended) (the 'Act'),
we write to inform you that those companies identified below no longer have a
notifiable interest in the issued share capital of your company:

The Prudential Assurance Company Limited

Notwithstanding the above, certain companies within the Prudential Plc group of
companies continue to have notifiable interests, details of which are set out
in the attached schedule.

For the purposes of S210 of the Act, the address for those companies identified
herein (including in the schedule below) is Laurence Pountney Hill, London
EC4R OHH.

Letter from M&G Investment Management Limited

           NOTIFIABLE POSITION REPORT FOR SMITH W.H. ORD GBX55.555555
                               AS AT 09 MARCH 2001

Percentage holdings are calculated using an issued share capital of 248,755,456
ORD GBX55.555555 shares

               Registered Holder                    Holding    %

Prudential Plc                                     7,872,545  3.16 Total Notifi-
                                                                   able Interest
               MAGIM HSBC GIS NOM (UK) SALI          130,000
               PRUCLT HSBC GIS NOM (UK) PAC AC     5,442,899
               PRUCLT HSBC GIS NOM (UK) PHL AC       285,373
               PRUCLT HSBC GIS NOM (UK) PPL AC     1,832,226
               ROY NOMS LTD 578141                   182,047