John Lewis Partnership denies staff bonus despite tripled profits
John Lewis Partnership has tripled its profits to £126m but staff at the employee-owned group have missed out on a bonus once again.

John Lewis Partnership has tripled its profits to £126m but staff at the employee-owned group have missed out on a bonus for the third consecutive year.
The retail group sales rose 3% to £12.8bn in 52 weeks to 25 January, bolstered by a 4.4% uplift in sales across Waitrose to £8bn.
Volumes at the grocer rose 2.6%, helping to double its adjusted operating profit to £227m.
The Partnership attributed the growth to its £61m investment into lowering prices, improved quality food proposition and its store modernisation programme which saw 14 refurbishments last year.
At John Lewis, sales remained flat at £4.8bn while adjusted operating profit slipped to £45m.
The Partnership said the past year had been “pivotal” for the department store business in what remains a “challenging environment” for the sector.
John Lewis reported 4.1% uplift in Christmas sales over the eight-week peak period, and said that the relaunch of its Never Knowingly Undersold pledge has driven incremental sales and attracted new customers.
Despite tripling profits, John Lewis said it would not pay a bonus as it prioritised investing £114m into base pay.
“We’ve consistently said that at this point in our transformation, this is best served by investing in our retail businesses and in Partners’ base pay,” the Partnership said.
“So after careful consideration, we do not believe it would be right to award a Partnership Bonus this year.”
The retail group said it expects the macroeconomic environment “to continue to be challenging for out customers and our business” but added that it was confident in its ‘Brilliant Retail’ strategy.
The business is again investing £600m into its operations this year, which include store refurbishments and openings, technology upgrades and supply chain modernisation.
John Lewis Partnership chair Jason Tarry said: “These are solid results, which show that our customers are responding well to our investments in quality products, value and service. We have made good progress with much more still to do.
“Looking forward, I see significant opportunity for growth from both our Waitrose and John Lewis brands. Our focus will be on enhancing what makes these brands truly special for our customers.
“This will involve considerable catch-up investment in our stores and supply chain, underpinned by a strong focus on the core elements of great retail, delivered by our brilliant Partners.”
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