John Lewis Partnership

John Lewis Profile & Stats

Since opening its first department store on London’s famous Oxford Street in 1864, John Lewis has grown into one of the UK’s most popular retailers. After the death of its eponymous founder in 1928, his son John Spedan Lewis took the helm and implemented many of the practices that led to the company’s rise and sustained success.

Believing it was unfair that business owners received profits and benefits while its employees didn’t, Spedan Lewis created a profit sharing scheme, a representative staff, provided paid holidays and set up workers’ committees. During a time when employees’ rights were minimal, these were radical principles to implement; but by making the company’s workforce both employees and partners, Spedan Lewis gave his staff real incentive to help propel the company forward.

This united drive has manifested in the founding of direct services company Greenbee.com – later to become John Lewis Insurance – the launch of its online shopping site www.johnlewis.com and the purchase of the supermarket chain Waitrose. The latter has since swelled from 10 to 230+ stores with the partnership also investing in an online delivery service, Ocado, to deal with the growing demand for home delivered groceries. Today, the partnership employs 76,500 personnel across the John Lewis and Waitrose brands. The John Lewis Partnership is structured by business area: building and services, head office, IT, John Lewis branches, John Lewis Direct, John Lewis distribution, John Lewis manufacturing, residential clubs, Waitrose distribution, Waitrose farming and Waitrose supermarkets.

The John Lewis Partnership is a big player when it comes to CSR work. The company is involved in local and national community projects and has established links with schools, charities and local authorities. Most recently, the Partnership has been actively supporting the East London regeneration programme by planning to set up new local stores that will create up to 930 jobs. Additionally, the company provides free employment training, offering at least 250 job opportunities to the unemployed.

The Partnership is also committed to doing its bit for the environment. Sustainability is high on the agenda; in fact, the firm has created a 10-year carbon reduction programme that aims to cut the company’s carbon footprint by 15%. Other green initiatives focus on fuel efficiency/alternative fuels, renewable sources, the reduction of water use and packaging optimisation.

When it comes to diversity, the Partnership is certainly not lagging behind either. The firm’s recruitment policies clearly make room for this, providing equal opportunities for all – but that’s not all! John Lewis is a keen campaigner for improving employment opportunities for people regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, social background, religion, disability or sexuality. The company supports several campaigns such as Race for Opportunity and the Employers’ Forum on Disability. The company doesn’t stop there either and is keen to improve the proportion of ethnic minorities at its management level, whilst also supporting disability in the work place. Furthermore, John Lewis hosts a Business and Technology Education Council placement programme that aims to develop the skills and qualifications of students from deprived backgrounds.