Overview
- Partners will receive a 2% bonus worth about £35 million, the first award since 2022 and equivalent to roughly a week’s pay for around 65,000–69,000 employees.
- Group sales rose 5% to £13.4 billion and trading profit increased 6% to £134 million, with Waitrose up about 7% to £8.5 billion and John Lewis up about 3% to £4.9 billion.
- Despite stronger trading, the partnership reported a £21 million pre-tax loss driven largely by around £120 million of exceptional, mostly non-cash write-downs on legacy technology.
- Executives flagged a cautious outlook for 2026/27 due to a challenging economic backdrop, noting profit headwinds from higher employer National Insurance (£40m) and the packaging levy (£13m).
- The strategy remains centered on core retail with roughly £800 million earmarked for store and tech investment, scrapping earlier build-to-rent plans and expanding brand initiatives such as Topshop in stores.