John Lewis: Job losses loom and staff bonus scrapped amid £234m loss

Grim results are ‘massive regret to me personally’ says Dame Sharon White

The group is in the middle of a five-year recovery plan (PA)

The John Lewis Partnership has warned of job cuts and is scrapping staff bonuses for only the second time in its history after losses rose to £234m in a “very tough year”.

Chairperson Dame Sharon White said the struggling retail cooperative, which runs the department store chain and Waitrose supermarkets, would need to cut costs aggressively to turn around its financial performance.

“As we need to become more efficient and productive, that will have an impact on our number of partners,” she told partners in a letter.