The John Lewis partnership announced its full year results today, as well as its staff bonus: 11% of annual salary. This figure has fallen for the second consecutive year, sharply from the 15% payout that partners received in 2014 and even more so from the 17% bonus that was announced in 2013.
It‘s not all bad news for the partners. For the first time in 15 years, “thanks to the new legislation that puts Employee Ownership on a similar footing to other forms of ownership,” no Partner will pay tax on their Bonus up to £3,600, Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of John Lewis Partnership, said in a statement this morning.
While the bonus is lower than hoped for, both John Lewis and Waitrose saw a strong sales performance and increased market share, as well as a continued growth in customer numbers (up 6% in Waitrose and 4% in John Lewis).
Gross sales for the British retail giant (for the year to January 31) rose 5.7% to £10.94bn and pre-tax profits increased by 4.7% to £350.6m.
While Waitrose trades amid a supermarket price war, it is experiencing volume growth as customer transactions rise by average of 400,00 a week. Online grocery sales are up by 31.2% and average order has increased by 5%. The number of myWaitrose members is now up to 5.4m, as the premium grocer increased the amount of new or improved products to 4,900.
The John Lewis Partnership‘s staff of 93,800 will each take home almost six weeks‘ pay, amounting to £156.2m in total.
