John Lewis Partnership - Organisation of The Partnership

Organisation of The Partnership

Every employee is a partner in the John Lewis Partnership, and has a possibility to influence the business through branch forums, which discuss local issues at every store, and the divisional John Lewis and Waitrose Councils. Above all these is the Partnership Council, to which the partners elect at least 80% of the 82 representatives, while the chairman appoints the remaining. The councils have the power to discuss ‘any matter whatsoever’, and are responsible for the non-commercial aspects of the business: the development of the social activities within the partnership and its charitable actions.

The Partnership Council also elects five directors on the Partnership Board (which is responsible for the commercial activities), while the chairman appoints another five. The two remaining board members are the chairman and the deputy chairman. These arrangements ensure that every non-management partner has an open channel for expressing his/her views to management and the chairman.

As well as this, the John Lewis Partnership publishes a weekly in-house magazine, called The Gazette. It is the oldest in-house magazine currently still being published in the UK. Each John Lewis branch also has its own weekly magazine, called The Chronicle.

The John Lewis Partnership has a very extensive programme of social activities for its partners, including two large country estates with parklands, playing fields and tennis courts; a golf club; a sailing club with five cruising yachts, and three country hotels offering holiday accommodation for the partners. Partners are also enrolled in a very favourable pension scheme, are covered by death-in-service insurance, and are given very generous holidays. In addition to this, upon completing 25 years of service for the company, partners are given a paid six-month break.

Finally, every partner receives an annual bonus, which is a share of the profit. It is calculated as a percentage of the salary, with the same percentage for everyone, from top management down to the shop floor and storage rooms. The bonus is dependent on the profitability of the Partnership each year, varying between 9% and 20% of the partners' annual salaries since 2000.

In 1999, in response to a fall in profits, there were calls from some Partners for the business to be demutualised and floated on the stockmarket. If this had gone through, each Partner would have received a windfall averaging £100,000 each. In the end, no one on the Partnership Council agreed with the idea and only one member spoke in favour of a referendum on the issue.