Waitrose leads John Lewis revival as upmarket grocer battles Marks & Spencer for customers

The boss of John Lewis Partnership said his turnaround plan is ‘working’ as it fights Marks & Spencer for customers.

Posting his first set of results since taking over as chairman in September, Jason Tarry (pictured) said shoppers are ‘responding well’ to an overhaul that includes the return of its ‘never knowingly undersold’ pledge.

The comments came as the Partnership, which owns the department store chains as well as Waitrose supermarkets, said profits jumped 73 per cent to £97million last year.

But it was not enough for Tarry to reinstate the staff bonus – meaning workers miss out for a third year in a row. The recovery was led by Waitrose, where sales rose 4.4 per cent to £8billion.

Sales at the 36 John Lewis department stores were the same as the year before, at £4.8billion, after a slump in the first half.

Tarry said: ‘These are solid results, which show that our customers are responding well to our investments in quality products, value and service. We had the right plan, focused on retail and it’s working.’

Under predecessor Sharon White, the business was criticised for focusing too much on non-retail areas such as financial services. 

Waitrose invested £61million in lowering prices and sales grew thanks to trendy products such as sauces by chef Yotam Ottolenghi and Mayfair restaurant Gymkhana. 

It is ploughing £1billion into refurbishing shops.

Waitrose held 3.9 per cent of the market compared to M&S’s 4.2 per cent in February, according to market researcher NielsenIQ.

Staff have not received a bonus for four years out of five but Tarry said he was ‘determined’ to bring the award back as soon as possible.

Instead, this year the group has raised salaries by at least 7.4 per cent, with its minimum rate of pay now £12.40 an hour. 

It plans to spend an extra £600million on revitalising its department stores this year.