About the John Lewis Partnership

Who Are We?

We’re the John Lewis Partnership, a ​continuing experiment​ to create a ​better way of doing business​. We’re driven by the extraordinary vision and values of our founder, John Spedan Lewis, who created our model of ​employee-ownership​ almost 100 years ago. He believed businesses would be more successful if employees were at the centre of everything they did. His vision means that today we’re more than employees, we’re owners of our business. That’s why we’re called ​Partners​.

The John Lewis Partnership is the UK’s largest employee owned business and parent company of our two cherished retail brands – John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners.  Everything we do is powered by our unique purpose, which puts the ​happinessof our Partners at its core. Our ​Partnership Values​ define how we work. Every one of us is committed to offering our customers quality products, great quality food and outstanding service, because ​for us, it’s personal​.

Why we exist

In 1928, John Spedan Lewis set out his vision for our Partnership that still guides what we do today. He believed that it was possible to make money whilst being socially responsible. Spedan’s vision for our business was for it to be a successful commercial​ enterprise that led the retail industry, with a ​democratic structure that gave everyone a voice and a stake in it. With customers more than ever wanting to buy from ethical businesses, and with corporate practices under the spotlight, Spedan’s thought was ahead of its time and has never been more relevant than it is today.

Spedan set out our principles in a ​written Constitution​ which begins with ​Principle 1​. While the words have changed over time, the spirit has always remained the same.

“The Partnership’s ultimate purpose is the happiness​ of all its members, through their ​worthwhile and satisfying employment​ in a ​successful​ business. Because the Partnership is owned in trust for its members, they share the responsibilities​ of ownership as well as its ​rewards​ – ​profit, knowledge and power.”​

Investing in and putting the happiness of our Partners first, realises greater potential for us to offer our ​millions of customers quality products, food and outstanding service.

What we do

Every day we strive to be a ​better business for everyone – ​Partners​, ​customers​, suppliers, our communities​ and the ​environment in which we live, work and source our products.

We’re always focused on making things better for our Partners. To do this, we need to create the best conditions for all Partners to empower and support them and, in doing so, release our unique and differentiating ‘Partner advantage’, which is central to our customer and commercial priorities.

We inspire and delight our ​customers​ through outstanding quality products and unrivalled service. 

We work with our ​suppliers​ to offer high quality, responsibly sourced products.  We innovate to use natural resources as efficiently as possible and reduce our environmental impact. We are transparent about how our products have been grown, sourced and made.

We’re dedicated to supporting and enhancing the wellbeing of the ​communities​ in which we live, work and source our products, through local investment in matters important to them.

Where we’re going

Throughout our history we’ve continued to differentiate and ​reinvent ourselves​ and find new ways to become a better business. Today, we live in uncertain and changing times. And it’s often during periods like now that the best businesses reinvent what they do and how they do it. 

We are putting our customers even more at the heart of our businesses. Change is happening to them too and when the world is changing you need an expert guide to make sense of it. We can be that guide. Not just to buying well, but to living well, eating well, and looking great. We need to think beyond our customers just shopping for clothes or food, and think about what they really want – to feel fabulous in what they wear, to feed themselves and their families in healthier, tastier, more interesting ways. If we think bigger, we will play a bigger part in their worlds, which is good for them and good for us.

But to do this we have continue to empower our Partners. We’ll see new skills and roles emerging. These are ways we can help customers get more out of their lives and out of us.

And we won’t just reinvent how we interact with customers, but what we offer them too. We will become more famous for our unique designs, unrivalled quality, inspiring recipes and dedication to the best tasting food. We will have more exclusive products and services and more that carry our name.

This will be a reinvention of the role we play for our customers and how we support them. And it involves everyone. Because this isn’t just a business, and this isn’t just a job. It’s so much more – for us, it’s personal.

Find out more about our 5-year plan here.

Opportunities With Us

Our opportunities extend far further than retail. We have Finance, IT, E-Commerce, People Operations (HR) and many other functions that underpin everything we do. So take a look through our career pages to find out where the next step in your career could take you.

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Latest opportunities

Waitrose

Supermarket Assistant

London – Ruislip

£11.72 – £12.75

Closing Date: 2024-03-22

Waitrose

Team Manager, Little Waitrose/ Petrol Filling Station

Tadworth – Burgh Heath

£25100 – £38100

Closing Date: 2024-03-20

Head Office

Senior Communications Officer Fixed Term

London – Victoria

£42200 – £60600

Closing Date: 2024-03-24