RANDOM HOUSE, publisher of the bestselling The Da Vinci Code, is considering halting the supply of books to WH Smith, the high street retailer, in a conflict that pitches two of Britain’s most influential businesswomen against one another.

Kate Swann, who runs WH Smith, is trying to levy millions of pounds in fines on publishers who deliver books late, but is being resisted by Random House, whose UK operations is headed by Gail Rebuck.

The dispute has dragged on for several months, but in the latest twist Random House, which is owned by Bertelsmann, the German media group, is preparing to halt the delivery of its books to WH Smith in an attempt to force the retailer to drop its plans.

Ms Swann is fighting to turn around WH Smith, which has been struggling against fierce competition from supermarkets, by concentrating on stationery and books at the expense of CDs and DVDs.

However, the retailer believes that the book distribution system is unreliable and an impediment to improvement. In January Ms Swann unveiled a strategy to increase book revenues by expanding ranges and improve efficiency in the supply chain.

Traditionally, books have accounted for a quarter of WH Smith’s business, and the high street chain believes that it can earn a higher margin on book sales that it can on music and films. It wants to withhold some of the payment due to the book distributor if key titles turn up late.

According to one estimate, the total value of fines reached £2 million in March.

Publishers have claimed that the retailer’s attempt to impose the fine system without their agreement is illegal, and some are unwilling to accede to WH Smith’s demands.

Other book groups are expected to support Random House. Harper Collins, which is owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times, is also considering withholding its stock, although Penguin, part of Pearson, is understood to have a separate agreement with the retailer and is not thought likely to get dragged into the row.

Distribution is particularly complex in the book industry because of the variety of titles that each big publisher handles. Some publishers have also suffered specific problems recently. Last year Penguin’s distribution system nearly collapsed after a warehouse move from London to Rugby went wrong.

As well as publishing Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and Deception Point, Random House is the publisher of bestsellers such as Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, and A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, all of which may no longer be readily available from WH Smith.

Random House and WH Smith declined to comment.

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