John Lewis to cut nearly 400 jobs
John Lewis is to cut nearly 400 jobs across its restaurants and home fitting department as it looks to adapt its business to structural changes in the retail industry.
In a statement, the company said its proposals will see around 773 staff entering a period of consultation and 386 new jobs being created.
Within home estimation and fitting, John Lewis is looking to move to a regional model for curtains, blinds, and floor covering estimators and fitters. The company said the proposals will allow it to broaden its services and be more flexible when offering appointments times to customers. The proposed changes will also create more skilled roles for staff who will receive additional training and given the opportunity to gain new skills.
John Lewis is also planning to create a single central customer administration hub to manage customer orders for the department, which will replace the current individual branch administration teams. To support the creation of this new team, the company is setting up a new training facility and improving its estimator and fitter booking system.
Within the restaurants, John Lewis wants to extend the catering model which is already being used in a third of its shops. The new model uses a centrally created menu that requires less ‘on-site’ preparation and will enable the company to change its menus more regularly, keep up with trends, and give a more consistent offering across its shops.
Dino Rocos, John Lewis operations director, said: “Our partners are passionate about offering the very best customer service and these proposals will allow us to modernise our business as it adapts to the changing needs of our customers and the role that shops play in their lives.
“The proposed new structure will allow us to harness partners’ knowledge and skills, giving them more scope to be in the right place at the right time to deliver great service to our customers when and where it’s needed. We understand that for some this will mean a period of change, and we are working with affected Partners over the consultation period to give opportunities for redeployment in new roles wherever possible.”
