TIDM45GD
RNS Number : 5463S
Lewis(John) PLC
09 July 2020
John Lewis plc makes the following announcement for John Lewis
Partnership plc, the ultimate holding company of John Lewis
plc.
Thursday 9 July 2020
EIGHT JOHN LEWIS SHOPS NOT TO REOPEN AS THE PARTNERSHIP
PROGRESSES WITH MAJOR BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW
The John Lewis Partnership has announced it will not reopen
eight John Lewis shops to secure the business's long-term future
and respond to customers' shopping needs. It will now enter into
consultation with impacted Partners about its proposals.
This announcement comes as the final wave of shop reopenings is
confirmed. A further nine shops in Aberdeen, Ashford, Brent Cross,
Chichester, Oxford, Peterborough, Reading, Sheffield and White City
Westfield will reopen on 30 July. Leicester will also reopen when
the local lockdown for the city is lifted, taking the total number
of reopened John Lewis shops to 42. The Swindon outlet will also
reopen on 30 July.
The shops identified for closure include two of the smallest in
the estate - travel hub shops at Heathrow and St Pancras, four At
Home shops in Croydon, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth and two full
size department stores in Birmingham and Watford. Approximately
1,300 Partners across the eight shops will now enter into
consultation.
If redundancies are confirmed, every effort would be made to
find new roles where possible for Partners who wish to remain
within the Partnership. Opportunities could include transferring to
local Waitrose shops or working for johnlewis.com and waitrose.com
as they continue to grow. The Partnership has also made a
commitment to provide support through a unique Retraining Fund,
which will contribute up to GBP3,000 towards a recognised
qualification or course for up to two years for any Partner with
two years' service or more. All Partners would be given access to a
three month support programme with an outplacement specialist to
help with CV writing and interview skills. In addition to statutory
redundancy payments, Partners who have worked with the business for
more than a year would be entitled to Partnership redundancy pay,
which equates to two weeks' pay for every year of service,
regardless of age. Those with less than one year's service who
leave on grounds of redundancy would receive an ex-gratia tax-free
payment equivalent to one week's contractual pay.
Prior to the pandemic, the eight shops identified were already
financially challenged and the pandemic has accelerated the switch
from shopping in-store to online. Before the virus struck, 40
percent of John Lewis sales were online. This could now be closer
to 60 to 70 percent of total sales this year and next.
Both John Lewis and Waitrose will continue to invest heavily in
ecommerce to reflect this shift. Waitrose has already doubled its
online capacity since the beginning of the pandemic. This will grow
further, with a third online fulfilment centre in Greenford opening
in partnership with logistics company Wincanton, and the continuing
expansion of Waitrose Rapid, which allows shoppers to order and
receive essential items within two hours. Further investment in
johnlewis.com is also planned.
John Lewis shops have a vital role to play within the business
and we are working on plans to ensure they continue to meet the
needs of customers, alongside a vibrant ecommerce operation. These
plans form part of a major strategic review, announced in March, to
ensure the future success of the Partnership. This will report back
later this month.
Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership said:
"Closing a shop is always incredibly difficult and today's
announcement will come as very sad news to customers and Partners.
However, we believe closures are necessary to help us secure the
sustainability of the Partnership - and continue to meet the needs
of our customers however and wherever they want to shop.
Redundancies are always an absolute last resort and we will do
everything we can to keep as many Partners as possible within our
business.
"There are many reasons to be optimistic about the Partnership's
future. Waitrose and John Lewis are two of the UK's most loved and
trusted brands and we have adapted to the challenges of the
pandemic by responding to the new needs of customers. We will soon
announce the output of our strategic review which will ensure our
brands stay relevant for future generations of customers."
It is intended that a GBP1 million Community Investment Fund
will be provided and shared between the communities to support
local projects.
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
Katie Robson on 07584 669696 or email
katie.robson@johnlewis.co.uk
James Armstrong on 07764 676 880 or email
james.armstrong@waitrose.co.uk
Sarah Henderson on 07764 676036 or email
sarah.henderson@johnlewis.co.uk
Gill Smith on 07887 898133 or email
gill.smith@waitrose.co.uk
Lynn Lochhead (Debt investor queries) email
investor.relations@johnlewis.co.uk
Notes to editors:
About John Lewis shop reopenings
Kingston and Poole reopened on Monday 15 June. Bluewater,
Cambridge, Cheadle, Cheltenham, High Wycombe, Horsham, Ipswich,
Norwich, Nottingham, Solihull, and Welwyn reopened on Thursday 18
June. Peter Jones, Southampton, York, Milton Keynes, Liverpool,
Leeds, Cribbs Causeway, Newcastle, and Tunbridge Wells on Thursday
25 June. Basingstoke, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Chester, Edinburgh,
Exeter, Glasgow, Stratford, Trafford will reopen on Monday 13 July.
Given the size and scale of the shop, Oxford Street will open later
in the week on Thursday 16 July to allow the shop additional time
to finalise reopening. Aberdeen, Ashford, Brent Cross, Chichester,
Leicester, Oxford, Peterborough, Reading, Sheffield, Swindon Outlet
and White City will reopen on Thursday 30 July.
About the shops proposed for closure
Shop Size Format Opened
Croydon 52,000 sq At Home August 2010
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
Swindon 59,000 sq At Home October 2010
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
Tamworth 42,000 sq At Home October 2011
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
Newbury 40,000 sq At Home April 2012
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
Heathrow Terminal Two 3,600 sq Travel Hub June 2014
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
London St Pancras Train Station 3,000 sq Travel Hub October 2014
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
Birmingham, Bullring Shopping Centre 136,000 sq Department Store September 2015
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
Watford, Harlequin Shopping Centre 96,620 sq Department Store August 1990
ft
----------- ----------------- ---------------
About the John Lewis Partnership
The John Lewis Partnership owns and operates two of Britain's
best-loved retail brands - John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose
& Partners. Started as a radical idea nearly a century ago, the
Partnership is the largest employee-owned business in the UK and
amongst the largest in the world, with over 80,000 employees who
are all Partners in the business. For all intents and purposes, the
Partnership is a social enterprise; the profits made are reinvested
into the business - for customers and Partners. John Lewis &
Partners operates 50 shops plus one outlet across the UK as well as
johnlewis.com . Waitrose & Partners has 337 shops in England,
Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 61 convenience
branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations. Waitrose
& Partners exports products to more than 50 countries worldwide
and has nine shops which operate under licence in the Middle East.
The retailer's omnichannel business includes the online grocery
service,
Waitrose.com , as well as specialist online shops including waitrosecellar.com for wine and waitroseflorist.com for plants and flowers. Our food business is bigger than our non-food business and our John Lewis shop sales represent less than a quarter of the Partnership's total revenue.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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