Respite for John Lewis boss as sales at grocery arm Waitrose bounce back

Dame Sharon White was handed a much needed boost as Waitrose clocked up its best performance for 18 months.

The upmarket grocer, part of the John Lewis Partnership which is run by under-fire White, saw sales climb 2.1 per cent to £1.4billion in the past three months.

That was the strongest sales growth since September 2021 and followed months of decline, according to figures from market research group Kantar.

Dame Sharon White (pictured) has been facing a sharp backlash over the past two weeks over fears outside investment will bring an end to John Lewis’s cherished staff ownership model

The problems at Waitrose – at a time when cheaper rivals such as Aldi and Lidl are winning customers from more expensive supermarkets – have piled pressure on White as she battles to turn the ailing John Lewis Partnership around. 

The group, which also includes the department store chain, racked up losses of £234million last year.

And for just the second time since 1953, John Lewis staff at its 34 department stores and 332 Waitrose supermarkets were not paid an annual bonus.

White is now looking to raise as much as £2billion to invest in the struggling business to return it to a sustainable footing. 

But it is feared outside investment will bring an end to John Lewis’s cherished staff ownership model – sparking a fierce backlash against White over the past two weeks.

In an open letter to White last week, retail expert Mary Portas, a former Downing Street adviser, said John Lewis faces a battle to regain its soul. 

‘Somehow, in recent years, you’ve let go of the soul,’ she said. ‘We’ve all felt the subtle, but powerful, erasure of what John Lewis is, a severing of what’s always set your business apart.’

While much of the focus has been on the department stores, it has been a torrid 18 months for Waitrose. 

The supermarket has long been one of the only major grocers suffering lower overall sales despite soaring prices, signalling a huge decline in demand.

It has suffered from supply chain problems which have left empty shelves at stores around the country.

And Waitrose has struggled as shoppers look for ways to cut costs in the face of rising food and energy bills,

But after a tough two weeks for White, the supermarket has finally returned to growth, according to the Kantar report.

The uptick follows a pledge by the supermarket to cut the cost of 300 essential products including ham, cheese and sausages to win back shoppers.

The supermnarket ploughed £100million into reducing prices on the products by up to a fifth and launched a marketing blitz to highlight the campaign.

Waitrose boss James Bailey promised the store would never ‘compromise on quality’, but that prices ‘matter more than ever’.

But Kantar’s figures showed the average sales growth across all supermarkets was 8.6 per cent, with Waitrose the worst performer except Morrisons.

They also showed inflation at supermarkets hit a record this month, with prices climbing on average by 17.5 per cent, which would add £837 to an average household’s annual grocery bill.

Kantar insight director Fraser McKevitt said: ‘This is a fiercely competitive sector and if people don’t like the prices in one store they will go elsewhere.’

White has been slammed by senior retail figures over her plans to shake up the partnership structure where John Lewis is owned by its 80,000 employees, who are called partners.

Former boss Andy Street said it would be a ‘tragedy’ if White’s plans went ahead.

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