Closures Announcement March 2021

On Wednesday 24th March 2021, the following information was released by the Partnership’s media centre;

The John Lewis Partnership has today announced that it is not planning to reopen eight of its 42 John Lewis shops from lockdown, as it rebalances its store estate to reflect how customers want to shop.

The Partnership also confirmed plans to transfer the running of its Waitrose Distribution Centre in Leyland to XPO Logistics.

The eight shops identified for closure include four ‘At Home’ shops in Ashford, Basingstoke, Chester and Tunbridge Wells and four department stores in Aberdeen, Peterborough, Sheffield and York.

We will enter into consultation with the 1,465 affected Partners about our proposals. Should we proceed, we will make every effort to find alternative roles in the Partnership for as many Partners as possible.

At the Partnership’s full year results earlier this month, we said that we will reshape our business in response to how our customers increasingly want to shop in-store and online.

CHANGES TO WAITROSE LEYLAND DISTRIBUTION CENTRE 

The Partnership has also confirmed that we have reached an agreement with XPO Logistics to operate the Waitrose distribution centre in Leyland, Lancashire, on our behalf. Leyland remains key to our operations, however, the site remains significantly underused. We have been discussing potential solutions with our Partners since last summer.

The decision safeguards Leyland’s future and secures employment for 436 Waitrose Partners working there who will transfer to XPO this summer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE).

Andrew Murphy, Executive Director of Operations, said: “I am very grateful for the efforts of Partners in Leyland who have served the Partnership brilliantly. The agreement announced today secures employment at the site and I am confident that, under the stewardship of XPO Logistics, Leyland will go from strength to strength.”