John Lewis Staff will not receive a bonus this year after the group fell into a loss. It is only the second time that staff at The John Lewis Partnership will not receive a bonus since 1953.
The group, which is made up of the John Lewis department store chain and Waitrose supermarkets, made a loss of £78million before exceptional items for the 12 months to January 28. During the previous year, it made a profit of £181m.
The John Lewis Partnership is owned by a trust on behalf of its employees. When the company makes a profit, a share of the cash is distributed to workers.
In the past, this has led to long-time employees receiving bonus payments worth thousands of pounds. In 2015 staff received a bonus worth 11% of their salary.
But in a letter to staff, John Lewis Partnership chairwoman Dame Sharon White said that the loss meant that staff would not be receiving a bonus. She said: “You’ve been exceptional in what has been another very tough year. Two years of pandemic and now a cost-of-living crisis.
“Inflation has had a big impact on the partnership and sent our costs soaring – up almost £180m on last year. All in all, this has made for a tough set of results. We made a loss of £78m.
“I am sorry that the loss means we won’t be able to share a bonus this year or do as much as we would like on pay.
“We’ll continue to help with the cost of living in other ways – the financial assistance fund will stay at £800,000 (a doubling) and there is support for travel, childcare and living costs.”
