Skip to main content
Search
Extended-form Case Study

WHSmith: hospital store prices case

Published on October 30, 2025   13 min

A selection of talks on Finance, Accounting & Economics

Please wait while the transcript is being prepared...
0:00
Hello. I'm Piotr Jaworski. I'm a senior lecturer in International Economics at the University of Dundee Business School. In this recording, I would like to present you with the case of the prices which were charged in the hospital's grocery stores in Britain around 2015.
0:20
In August 2015, Edinburgh Evening News published an article comparing the prices which were charged on the high street and at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. It's noted that in the hospital, the prices were much higher than the one on the high street. The WHSmith branch in the hospital charged 1.49 for a bottle of water while in Sainsburys, a twice bigger bottle was only 60p. But this was not only a problem in Edinburgh. As I said, the problem was nationwide. Now we can see here the comparison of prices in Leeds Hospital and the prices on the Leeds High Street. On the high street, the bottle of water was one pound, while in the hospital it was 89% more expensive. Furthermore, the shops were operated by the same WHSmith. What was the reason for such situation? Let's analyze different perspectives of the players and then explain it using economic theory.
1:24
Let's start with society as the first player. Paula Sherriff, Member of the Parliament for Dewsbury claimed that WHSmith approach was fundamentally wrong and practically resulted in exploitation of patients and visitors. But what about airports and trains?

Quiz available with full talk access. Request Free Trial or Login.