The boss of the ailing John Lewis Partnership pledged to return it to profit by 2026 – but insisted staff bonuses would only return ‘when affordable’.
After three years of losses, chairman Sharon White yesterday said the five-year plan launched in 2021 would ‘get the partnership back to sustainable profit’.
And while it insisted it expects to make a profit before then, the outlook for the famous annual bonus for 74,000 staff at its department stores and Waitrose supermarkets remained unclear.
The bonus was scrapped last year for only the second time since 1953 amid losses of £234million.
In a speech to members of the Employee Ownership Association yesterday, White merely said it would be ‘paid when affordable’.
Recovery: John Lewis chairman Sharon White said the five-year plan launched in 2021 would ‘get the partnership back to sustainable profit’
She said the recovery plan would create ‘a broadly based business with brilliant retail at the core, built on excellent customer service, quality and ethics’.
A bonus has always depended on making a sufficient profit, and there was no update at present, the Partnership said.
White’s role was brought into question last month when representatives on the employee-owned partnership council voted against her performance over the past year.
But she won a stay of execution as the council – around 60 members elected by other staff – backed her to continue.
As well as concern over the financial performance, White’s plans to bring in external investment have sparked fears over its treasured staff ownership structure.
She yesterday said the plan could require external investment but again insisted the employee model was not going anywhere, saying: ‘Employee-ownership is a given.
‘What makes us special is not incidental to being a partnership. It’s because we’re a partnership.’
Pointing to link-ups with Ocado, she said: ‘We have for many years found creative ways to partner with other companies using some of their capital and expertise to provide new services and enter new markets.’
White added: ‘The tragedy would be to walk past what needs to be done to ensure the Partnership has the fuel it needs to invest, transform and grow.
If the Partnership could not fund all of the plan by itself, the board could look at whether external investment was needed.’
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