John Lewis profits triple to £126m but hopes for staff bonus dashed again
The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has tripled profits to £126m but workers at the staff-owned retail group have missed out on a bonus for a third year in a row.
The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) said sales rose 3% to £12.8bn in the 12 months to 25 January 2025, as underlying profit rose from £42m. However, the company said it was prioritising investment over the bonus with plans to spend £600m on transforming the business.
Jason Tarry, the chair of the John Lewis Partnership, 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.'
The retailer, which employed about 69,000 people last year, has now skipped the bonus to workers in four out of the last five years, after diving to a loss during the Covid pandemic when it was forced to close stores during lockdowns.
The group is in the midst of a tough turnaround plan, in which 16 department stores and at least 20 Waitrose outlets have been closed and thousands of head office staff jobs cut.
It had been hoped that Thursday's annual results, the first presented by the new chair and former Tesco executive, Tarry, after six months in the role, would confirm the cash reward for workers.
However, John Lewis is focusing on upgrading its stores and improving weekly pay for its staff, having announced a 7.4% pay rise last week to a minimum of £12.40 an hour last week.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edinburgh Live
9 hours ago
- Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh chef who started own restaurant at 23 now one of 'Scotland's best'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An award-winning Edinburgh founder chef has discussed the difficulties of being a young restaurateur in the capital's vibrant hospitality sector. Jun Au, from Polwarth, admits he was never any good at school when it came to academics and so he knew he wanted to do something more 'physical.' At age 18 he set his sights on becoming a chef and honed his art working in the kitchens on Castle Terrace and the Green Store on Victoria Street before its closure. After earning a degree in hospitality, he ventured into the world of PR, representing several businesses in London. But when the Covid pandemic hit, the PR firm lost all of their clients which led to him moving back to Edinburgh with some saved up cash. Feeling there was nothing to lose, he decided to launch Pomelo at the age of 23 on Strathearn Road. Now in his current location on Sciennes Road, the 27-year-old has tasted success, earning an Acorn award as well as being named "Best Asian Chef in Scotland' by the Asian Catering Federation and one of CODE 30 under 30 in 2025. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages. 'I would say it was the best time for us to start out,' he said. 'Lockdown started relaxing and people were allowed outside again, and with us being a new eatery, we drew them in. 'We rode that wave of enthusiasm but I was quite naive having never run a business before. It was a steep learning curve. You have a lot to think about as a small business such as staffing costs, taxes and your bills." It has not been all plain sailing, with Jun arguing more needs to be done to help the sector during a period of rising costs. 'The biggest difficulty of running a restaurant in Edinburgh is monetary,' he said. 'Prices are skyrocketing and on top of that you have high rents, taxes and growing wages. 'I know they have to find a difficult balance but hospitality is one of the largest employers in the country. They have put a burden on restaurant owners and small businesses have a lot of pressure on them." 'My advice to anyone starting out is be flexible and nimble so you are able to switch things up when costs rise.' Jun does not feel his youth has held him back and credits his staff and family for helping making the venture a success. 'For me I was never a party person,' he said. 'I liked to be by myself and now I like to be with my wife and dog. 'The people around me made a lot more sacrifices. My staff work long hours to support the business and my wife is my biggest supporter. 'She is my front of house manager who handles all the admin which I don't have the capacity to deal with. She sacrifices so much which means a lot to me. 'My parents have also put so much effort in, with my mum continuing to help out with the accounting. My chef team is also amazing. It is so hard to find competent people who really want to work and have a passion for that work.' Winning an Acorn and being recognised by his peers was important for Jun as he admits he suffered from impostor syndrome during the early days. 'When you are as young as I am, you can be a little scared or concerned you are doing the right thing,' he said. 'You definitely have to be really passionate about when starting out as you work a lot of hours. 'I am very not calm at all. But I see my anxiety as an advantage, I never switch off and I do not know if that is a super power however if it is, then it is the worst one you can have.' Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox Jun describes Pomelo as creating a menu inspired by the three chefs' heritage. At present there is a Chinese, Filipino and Maltese chef who all borrow from their own life experiences and childhoods. Jun grew up in a Chinese family who explored their culture through food, whether it was his mother cooking in the kitchen or his grandmother passing down recipes. He believes has created a space where diners can have fun exploring fusion cuisine. Things like the Pomelo chicken sandwich, which is made using a pineapple flavoured brioche style bun with a cookie-like crust on top, filled with fried chicken, encapsulates perfectly what Jun and his staff are all about. 'I would say we are fun,' he said. 'The menu is really inspired by our childhoods and our heritage while also focusing on produce that is in season.' Pomelo is open for brunch and dinner bookings. To visit Pomelo's website, click here.
North Wales Chronicle
11 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Civil Service workforce up 2,000 to almost 20-year high, figures suggest
A total of 550,000 people were employed in the Civil Service as of March 2025, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is up from 548,000 in December 2024 and a rise of 1% year-on-year from 544,000 in March 2024. Headcount fell to 416,000 in June 2016, the month of the EU referendum. Since that date, the total has risen steadily, driven chiefly by the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government announced in April this year that it planned to cut around 2,100 staff from the Cabinet Office, as part of a plan to shrink the Civil Service and reduce the cost of bureaucracy. Some 1,200 roles will disappear through redundancies, while 900 will be transferred to other departments. The latest Civil Service headcount of 550,000 is nearly a third higher (32%) than it was in 2016, or an increase of 134,000. Of the 550,000, almost 443,000 are full-time roles and the remainder are part-time positions. The last time the quarterly headcount was higher than the current figure was in June 2006, when it stood at 553,000. The total was on a downwards path during the second half of the 2000s and this trend continued into the 2010s until the EU referendum in 2016, after which the headcount began to climb. It grew by 40,000 in the years between 2016 and the start of the pandemic, as thousands of people were recruited to manage the complex and lengthy Brexit process. There was then a further jump once the pandemic was under way, as the Government hired staff to oversee huge projects such as the furlough scheme, testing for Covid-19 and the rollout of the vaccination programme. Headcount increased by 56,000 between March 2020, when the first lockdown began, and March 2022. By June 2024, just ahead of the general election on July 4, the total had reached at 546,000, since when the figure has increased by a further 4,000. Responding to the data, a Government spokesperson said: 'This increase is driven by recruitment to operational roles, including tax collectors and probation officers. 'As part of our Plan for Change, we are creating a more agile and productive state – reducing back-office costs to deliver savings of over £2 billion by 2030 and targeting spending on front line services. 'We have already announced a new cross-government fund for exit schemes to reduce staffing numbers over the next two years, as well as introducing measures to make it quicker and easier to remove poor performers from post.' Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in March that Civil Service running costs would be reduced by 15% by the end of the decade. As well as abolishing quangos such as NHS England, ministers have committed to increasing the proportion of civil servants working in digital and data roles, creating a workforce 'fit for the future'. Two Government departments together account for more than a third of the full Civil Service headcount: the Department for Work & Pensions (17.6% of the total) and the Ministry of Justice (17.5%). The next largest are HM Revenue & Customs (12.9%), the Ministry of Defence (10.5%) and the Home Office (9.2%). These five departments together account for just over two-thirds of the total headcount.
Metro
11 hours ago
- Metro
Waitrose updates popular hot drink loyalty perk — but shoppers face £3 fines
Waitrose is trialling a change to a popular loyalty scheme perk — but customers could face a charge if they don't follow the rules. The middle-class supermarket offers its My Waitrose shoppers a free hot drink, without buying anything in store, as long they bring a reusable cup. Now, in a bid to ensure everyone gets their caffeine fix, customers can borrow a cup if they've forgotten their own. Sounds like a pretty great deal, but it comes with a catch. If shoppers don't bring the cup back to a designated collection point within seven days, they'll face a £3 penalty. The 'Borrow a Free Cup' system aims to reduce plastic waste and is currently being tested at nine branches. It was first spotted in Waitrose's Newark store, according to The Grocer. A Waitrose spokesperson said: 'We're currently conducting a reusable cup trial in nine of our branches – it kicked off this week and is available for MyWaitrose members to use when redeeming their free coffee, or for our cafe customers to use if purchasing one.' Shoppers will need to tap their MyWaitrose card to redeem their free brew. Those who bring in a reusable cup will be able to enjoy the perk as normal. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Waitrose first introduced its free hot drink offer in 2013. But in 2017, uproar ensued when the supermarket changed its terms to require members to make a purchase to get their free brew. Then came heartbreak once more when the pandemic hit – the scheme was paused for two whole years. In 2022, it was reintroduced, but with the same terms that a purchase was necessary. Since January this year though, Waitrose customers have been able to pour themselves a cup of Joe (or tea) without paying a penny for anything inside the store, as long as they bring their own cup. Customers can enjoy an americano, cappuccino, latte or tea inside Waitrose and Little Waitrose stores. The drinks are made with Caffe Nero beans, and obviously, oat milk is included. The only requirement to redeem the free perk is that the reusable cup fits under the nozzle of the self-service coffee machine. More Trending When the return of free coffee was announced back in January, fans flocked to X to share their delight. 'Going to Waitrose and getting a free coffee is a form of therapy,' @harry_jrh wrote. 'Can there be anything more full of middle-class tension than a queue at the free coffee machine, with a frisson of fear it might be broken?' @PhilipGlanville said. View More » While @ruth_walshe joked that 'moving north to south is discovering the joy of buying a 30p banana from Waitrose and getting a free coffee.' Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ MORE: Price of Freddo increases yet again as popular chocolate suffers shrinkflation MORE: This 28p supermarket Diet Coke is 'so good' a superfan couldn't tell the difference MORE: Sainsbury's aisle change could signal end of an era for classic shopping feature Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
