Yorkshire has biggest demand for John Lewis

John Lewis’s managing director Andy Street said that the group’s new store in York, which opens on April 10, and its proposed store in Leeds, which will open in time for Christmas 2016, mark a major commitment to Yorkshire by the retailer.

“The next high point for us will be the opening of the York store in just over a month’s time,” said Mr Street.

“We’ve got more customers in Yorkshire who’d like to shop with us than anywhere else in the country. York and Leeds together show a big commitment to Yorkshire.”

At the moment, John Lewis only has one store in the county in Sheffield.

John Lewis in York, which will open at Monks Cross on the edge of the city, will be the chain’s most environmentally friendly shop.

The 95,000 sq ft department store will be the first John Lewis to feature a range of sustainable design elements, including low energy lighting and photovoltaic cells on the roof to generate renewable energy.

The firm estimated that the roof panels will generate 80,000kWh per year, which is enough to power more than 20 houses and should be enough to power the store.

The York store will also feature a wildlife wall, which will provide a roosting home for bats, bird nesting and insect spaces.

At 150,000 sq ft, the Leeds store in the upmarket £150m Victoria Gate scheme, will become John Lewis’s flagship store in Yorkshire.

“It will be the regional flagship, drawing people from across the region,” said Mr Street.

He was speaking yesterday as John Lewis announced that over 90,000 John Lewis and Waitrose staff will receive bonuses worth 15 per cent of salary, the equivalent of nearly eight weeks pay, after the group reported a 10 per cent rise in annual profits.

The John Lewis Partnership, which is owned by its employees, announced a bonus pot of £202.5m.

The payout is lower than last year’s 17 per cent due to increased costs to service the group’s £1bn pension fund deficit.

Each worker, from Saturday staff to chairman Charlie Mayfield, will receive the same percentage of salary as a bonus.

John Lewis reported pre-tax, pre-bonus profits of £376.4m for the 52 weeks to January 25, boosted by a highly successful Christmas for both the department store chain and the Waitrose supermarket business.

Bottom-line profits were 4.1 per cent lower at £329.1m after the group had to pay £47m in back pay to 69,000 staff last summer after discovering it miscalculated holiday pay dating back to 2006, leaving some workers entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation.

John Lewis forecast an improving economic backdrop as the year progresses.

Mr Mayfield said: “We feel more optimistic about the macro picture in the economy, all the economic indicators are moving in the right direction.

“We haven’t seen that feeding through into a buoyant mood in terms of consumption and consumer expenditure, but my view is that that will improve as the year goes on,” he said, pointing to Britain’s improving housing market.

John Lewis has consistently bucked the retail gloom, winning market share over the last five years, at a time when rivals have struggled.

John Lewis tends to attract more affluent customers who have been less affected by the economic downturn. Its bias towards the more prosperous south east of the country has also helped.

Analysts said that John Lewis’ partnership structure is helping it beat rivals, as it acts as both a motivator for staff and it allows for long-range decision making as investors short term needs do not have to be met.

Ajay Bhalla, professor of global innovation management at Cass Business School said: “Our research shows that the ownership culture of employee owned businesses, which supports higher employee engagement and links employee initiative-taking to superior performance, is at the heart of success of firms such as John Lewis.”

Waitrose’s like-for-like sales rose 3.7 per cent in the first five weeks of the 2014-15 year. John Lewis’ like-for-like sales rose 5.3 per [email protected]