Postponement for John Lewis boss Dame Sharon White as sales at grocer Waitrose pick up again
Dame Sharon White got a much needed boost as Waitrose put in his best performance in 18 months.
The upmarket grocer, part of the John Lewis Partnership led by under-fire White, saw sales rise 2.1 per cent to £1.4 billion over the past three months.
That was the strongest sales growth since September 2021 and followed months of contraction, according to figures from market research group Kantar.
Dame Sharon White (pictured) has faced sharp backlash over the past two weeks over fears that outside investment will end the staff ownership model cherished by John Lewis
The troubles at Waitrose – at a time when cheaper rivals such as Aldi and Lidl are winning customers from more expensive supermarkets – have increased the pressure on White as she fights to turn around the ailing John Lewis Partnership.
The group, which also includes the department store chain, posted a loss of 234 million pounds last year.
And for the second time since 1953, John Lewis employees in the 34 department stores and 332 Waitrose supermarkets were not paid an annual bonus.
White is now looking for a whopping £2bn to invest in the struggling company to make it sustainable again.
But there are fears that outside investment will end John Lewis’s model of staff ownership, which has sparked a fierce backlash against White over the past two weeks.
In an open letter to White last week, retail expert Mary Portas, a former Downing Street adviser, said John Lewis is fighting to get his soul back.
“Somehow you’ve released the soul in recent years,” she said. “We’ve all felt the subtle yet powerful erasing of what John Lewis is, a cutoff from what has always set your company apart.”
Although most of the attention was focused on the department stores, it was a torrid 18 months for Waitrose.
The supermarket has long been one of the few major grocers to suffer lower overall sales despite rising prices, suggesting a massive drop in demand.
It has been suffering from supply chain issues that have left empty shelves in stores across the country.
And Waitrose has struggled as customers look for ways to cut costs in the face of rising food and utility bills.
But after two tough weeks for White, the supermarket is finally starting to grow again, according to the Kantar report.
The rise follows a pledge by the supermarket to cut the cost of 300 essential products, including ham, cheese and sausages, to win back shoppers.
The supermarket has plowed £100 million to slash product prices by up to a fifth and launched a marketing blitz to raise awareness of the campaign.
Waitrose boss James Bailey promised the store would never “compromise on quality” but that prices “are more important than ever”.
But Kantar’s figures showed average sales growth across all supermarkets was 8.6 percent, with Waitrose the worst performer except Morrisons.
They also showed that supermarket inflation hit an all-time high this month, with prices rising by an average of 17.5 per cent, which would add £837 to an average household’s annual grocery bill.
Kantar Insight Director Fraser McKevitt said: ‘This is a fiercely competitive industry and if people don’t like the prices in one store, they’ll go elsewhere.’
White has been criticized by senior retail figures for her plans to shake up the partnership structure in which John Lewis is owned by the 80,000 employees, known as partners.
Former boss Andy Street said it would be a “tragedy” if White’s plans go through.