UK's John Lewis will allegedly cut staff bonuses

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Mar 9, 2015

Britain's John Lewis Partnership, which owns the John Lewis department store and Waitrose food retailer, is owned by its employees and each year it pays out an annual bonus to them.

However, this week the company is allegedly set to announce that challenging trade conditions in the food industry affected Waitrose profits, leading to a decline in staff bonuses for the second consecutive year, reported The Telegraph.

The payout will allegedly fall from 15% of annual salaries last year to between 10% and 14%, which is still worth more than two months' pay to staff. Last year's payout was down from 17% in 2013.

Profits at John Lewis and Waitrose have been affected by the cost of opening new stores, offering new loyalty cards, and cutting prices. Independent retail analyst Nick Bubb told The Telegraph that the tough start to 2015 meant the John Lewis Partnership board could "err on the side of caution" and announce a bonus for staff that is "well down" on last year.

He predicts that the company will post pre-tax and pre-exceptional profits of between £345m and £350m for the year to the end of January, down 8% on last years £376m.

John Lewis is opening a new flagship store in Birmingham city centre this year, and Waitrose is planning to open 16 more UK shops.

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