Sharon White: John Lewis will be profitable in three years
John Lewis boss Sharon White has reportedly not ruled out tapping up outside investment to bring the struggling upmarket retailer back to profitably by 2026, however vowed that the would remain business employee owned.
White told members of the Employee Owned Association – which represents UK organisations which are employee owned- that the plan to get the business back in the black could require outsider investment, The Times reports.
However, White told the meeting that any investment would have to adhere with the trust settlements – which secures employee ownership and that partners get a share in the profits.
“Employee-ownership is a given,” she said. “What makes us special is not incidental to being a partnership. It’s because we’re a partnership”.
The Partnership, which includes department store John Lewis and grocery store Waitrose, has suffered financially over the last year – most recently posting a £234m loss in 2022.
White has previously faced criticism for eyeing up outside investment to boost funds for the business, as many feared it would bring an end to business being employee owned.
West Midlands mayor Andy Street, John Lewis managing director until 2016, previously labelled the rumoured decision as a “tragedy”.
poor performance has also been blamed on a tough economic climate and a period of rapid expansion between 2000 -2015.
It comes as White narrowly won a vote of confidence on her future leadership at the company’s meeting last month, with a majority of partners saying they had confidence in her leadership moving forward, but lost a vote on whether partners had confidence in her decisions over the past year.
City A.M has contacted The Partnership for a comment.