John Lewis staff miss out on bonus despite tripled profits
While employees will once again miss out on their yearly bonus, the company said it is investing a further £114m into staff pay
The John Lewis Partnership has confirmed its staff will not receive a bonus for the third year in a row, despite full-year profits tripling from £42m to £126m, with the group instead focusing on investment into employee pay. For the year ended 25 January 2025, overall sales rose by 3% year-on-year, from £12.4bn to £12.8bn, while customer numbers rose by 2%.
At Waitrose, sales rose by 4.4% to £8bn and volumes were up 2.6%, with investment into the quality of food and lower prices helping to drive this growth. Adjusted operating profit rose by £122m to £227m amid the sales uptick and productivity improvements.
At John Lewis, sales were in line with last year at £4.8bn, which was “ahead of the market” despite a “challenging environment for the sector”. While H1 sales fell by 3%, alongside a £24m drop in operating profit amid investments into growth, there was a “marked improvement” in the second half, with a 3% rise in sales and £8m growth in operating profit.
While employees will once again miss out on their yearly bonus, the company said it is investing a further £114m into staff pay, building on the £116m increase in 2024, and up to £600m in business transformation.
In its latest results, it said that “after careful consideration, we have prioritised this investment over sharing a bonus this year”.
It added that it will continue to invest in improving customer experience through store refurbishments and openings, as well as technology upgrades and supply chain modernisation.
In 2020, John Lewis axed its staff bonus for the first time since 1953, after reporting a half-year loss of £635m amid the pandemic. At the time, the group said it would expect to begin paying a bonus again once profits exceeded £150m.
While a staff bonus was reinstated in 2022, the group axed the payment for a second time in 2023 after full-year losses plummeted to £234m. Despite returning to profit last year, the group confirmed it would not pay out staff bonuses for the third time in four years.
Chairman 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.”
Looking ahead, the group said it expects to see a further increase in profitability in 2025/26, and is “confident in its strategy” despite an anticipated challenging environment.
