John Lewis to axe 2025 bonus for staff for the THIRD year running – despite big profits

A HIGH street stalwart is axing annual company bonuses for the third year running.

Retailer John Lewis Partnership has said it will not pay a staff bonus for the third year in a row despite seeing annual profits rebound higher.

AFPInstead, it will prioritise another £114million in overall pay and up to £600million of investment in the business[/caption]

The employee-owned business, which runs the department store chain and Waitrose supermarket arm, posted a 73% jump in pre-tax profits to £97million for the year to January 25.

On an underlying basis, profits tripled to £126million from £42million a year ago.

But the group said it would not pay out a bonus once again for its workforce of around 73,000 people.

Instead, it will prioritise another £114million in overall pay and up to £600million of investment in the business.

Earlier this month, it was announced that staff would receive a 7.4% pay rise in an effort to improve retention.

It said: “After careful consideration, we have prioritised this investment over sharing a bonus this year.”

Jason Tarry, who took over as chairman of the John Lewis Partnership from Dame Sharon White last September, said: “We have made good progress with much more still to do.

“Looking forward, I see significant opportunity for growth from both our Waitrose and John Lewis brands.

“This will involve considerable catch-up investment in our stores and supply chain.”

The group said it expects a further rise in profits in the 2025-26 financial year, despite warning that it expects the wider economic backdrop “to be challenging for our customers and our business”.