LONDON (Reuters) – John Lewis, Britain biggest department store group, said yesterday it was planning to cut hundreds of jobs in a reorganisation of its soft furnishings retailing business and changes to the way it operates its in-store restaurants.
John Lewis, which also owns the upmarket Waitrose supermarket, said at the same time it would be creating 386 other jobs which will be offered to the 773 of its 30,000 staff who face redundancy.
Under the reorganisation the company said it plans to move its estimation and fitting service for curtains and carpets to a regional model, with administration moved out of individual stores to a central location, which can also serve online customers.
In addition the company said it had decided to reduce on-site preparation of foods in its restaurants.
Last month the company said that the bonus which it pays annually to its staff, known as ‘Partners’ was likely to be “significantly lower” this year, as it needed to invest heavily in its online business this year after 40 per cent of total sales came from the internet over Christmas.