Chart: The history of John Lewis Partnership bonuses up to 2025

John Lewis and Waitrose staff have missed out on a bonus once again, despite the retail business seeing a 73% rise in profit before tax.

The partnership posted a £97m pre-tax profit in the year to January 25, 2025, versus £56m the year before. 

2025 will be the third consecutive year that staff have received no bonus, reflecting the lessened emphasis on the bonus scheme which has long been a hallmark of the employee-owned business. 

The brand has instead focused on increasing pay for staff. It announced an investment of £114m last week, leading to a 7.4% pay rise for shopfloor staff. Those “who make an exceptional contribution to the Partnership” will receive an additional 2%. 

In a statement posted alongside the results, the John Lewis Partnership said: “As employee-owners, we have a shared responsibility to ensure the Partnership is sustainable over the long term. We’ve consistently said that at this point in our transformation, this is best served by investing in our retail businesses and in Partners’ base pay. So after careful consideration, we do not believe it would be right to award a Partnership Bonus this year. We are increasing overall pay by £114m in 2025, building on the £116m increase in 2024.”

Bonuses used to mark a big rise in earnings for staff at the partnership, reaching nearly a quarter of pay (24%) in 1979, 1987 and 1988. 

2017 saw the partnership’s lowest bonus as a portion of annual salary in 63 years when 6% was handed out to employees. The bonus has never been as high as that since then.

After the huge impact of Covid-19 on the business, the partnership made the decision to forgo the bonus for the first time since 1953. It was last suspended in the wake of the Second World War.

That decision was reversed in 2022 when a 3% bonus was awarded. This marks the third consecutive year that no bonus has been given out. 

New executive chair Jason Tarry said the results represented an improvement for the brand, and insisted he wanted to re-instate the bonus to staff as soon as was possible. 

“These are solid results, which show that our customers are responding well to our investments in quality products, value and service. We have made good progress, with much more still to do,” he said. 

“I am determined to pay a bonus as soon as we possibly can, but that will depend on where we are at the time and the conditions we face. But right now our focus is on base pay and investing further in the business”.