Big bonus plans in Exeter's John Lewis and Waitrose stores

Staff at Exeter’s John Lewis and Waitrose stores were delighted today after receiving an annual bonus worth 15% of their salaries - the equivalent to nearly 8 weeks of pay.

John Lewis Staff crowded in to the store’s top floor cafe before the final amount was met by cheers to in a synchronised unveiling across all the Partnership’s stores.

For many of the staff at the Exeter store this will be the first time they have received a bonus for their whole year’s salary as the store only opened in October 2012.

Exeter Branch Manager Kate Connock, said: “A bonus is always a bonus isn’t it, If we get 10% or 20% or anything in between there is fab for the team. It’s real recognition for the work they put in.

“This is a different business from any other because when you co-own it you really put your heart and soul into the job and I think it’s really great to get that back in a tangible way to say thank you for that hard work and commitment.”

Many of the staff already has big plans on where their cash is going to go with some planning life-changing journeys such as department manager Rose Jones, 29, who is taking a break from her career to go travelling around the world with friends.

“We all hit 30 this year so it’s a good time for us to go do our last bit of trekking around the globe before we do things like invest in houses and that sort of thing.” said Rose Jones.

“We’re going to do a bit of time in Asia and Burma specifically, we’re going to go to New Zealand and spend two months there, then Tahiti next hopefully and then definitely South America which is my big one.”
Rose plans to use her bonus to fund a portion of her travel costs and says some of her friends are a little envious.

“[My friends] are saving like mad, two of them have just moved home with their families I think all of their salaries for the next 10 months are just going towards that now.

“One of my friends who is going to come out and meet us in Asia said ‘god you’re so lucky all I get is a pat on the back’ and I said to her, well this is our pat on the back but it’s a really tangible pat on the back, which is fantastic.

“My job will be waiting for me when I get back and hopefully I’ll get right back into the swing of things.”

Nationally around 91,000 staff (known as partners) of the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership will receive today’s bonus at stores across the UK.

The bonus is however slightly lower than last year’s 17%, following news that the group, which includes both John Lewis and the supermarket chain Waitrose, saw its annual pre-tax profits fall by 4%, to £329.1m.

However, the Partnership says this fall in profit is due to a £47m payment made to staff over short holiday pay and was not due to poor performance. More money was also put towards the company’s £1bn pension scheme deficit this year.

Charlie Mayfield, chairman of John Lewis Partnership, said: “This has been another good year for the Partnership. Both Waitrose and John Lewis increased market share for the fifth consecutive year, profit before exceptionals has grown by almost 10 per cent and, for the first time, we have achieved sales of over £10 billion.

“As a result of our performance, I am delighted that 91,000 partners will receive a Bonus of 15 per cent, equivalent to nearly 8 weeks’ pay. The bonus reflects the balance of a strong trading year, but also the increased costs of pension provision.”

He added: “Our ownership by partners has played a key role in these results. There are fundamental changes taking place in retail, especially in customer attitudes towards value, convenience and personalisation.

“For several years we have been adapting our business to take advantage of these changes. That has required high levels of investment, organisational change and new capabilities. The level of change has at times been challenging, but partners have understood and embraced the need for their business to continue to develop.”