Hundreds of jobs at risk as John Lewis plans to cut some services
Around 200 John Lewis staff could lose their jobs as the retailer looks to close its in-store money exchange services and dedicated gift wrapping areas
Around 200 John Lewis staff could lose their jobs as the retailer looks to close its in-store money exchange services and dedicated gift wrapping areas. No final decision has been made but the job cuts will happen in the autumn if the redundancy plans it is consulting on are approved. John Lewis said the decision to close its in-store bureaux de change was due to falling demand and that it would move gift-wrapping services from a specialised area to its tills. A spokesperson said it would support affected staff "throughout the consultation process and support redeployment where possible".
They added: "As we focus on modernising this proposition to meet our customers' changing needs, we're proposing to close our in-store foreign exchange bureaus as well as our gift wrapping service. "As a result, we're regretfully consulting with partners who currently deliver these services." The retailer said customers were increasingly ordering foreign currency online and collecting it in store. It also said some other customers were choosing instead to use their credit cards or digital payments while abroad. It added that the changes to its gift wrapping services would make it more accessible. The money exchange closure will affect 30 shops while the gift wrapping services closure will affect 25 shops.
The retailer has been going through many changes under its chair. Jason Tarry, who took over in 2024 after a tough few years that saw it cut jobs and close several stores It closed its housebuilding arm in February, in a move which also led to some job losses. And, in March, the retailer said it would be awarding its staff a bonus for the first time in four years as its profits and sales improved. The bonus had been scrapped during the Covid pandemic, marking the first time this had happened since 1953. John Lewis' latest results show the business reported a pre-tax loss of £21m due to £120m worth of one-off costs which mainly related to write-downs in the value of old tech systems.
But underlying profits rose 6% to £134m. Sales across the business rose by 5% to £13.4bn. Sales growth was higher at Waitrose compared with John Lewis. Supermarket sales grew by 7% to £8.5bn in the year to the end of January compared to a 3% increase to £4.9bn at department stores.
The BriefWire