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What makes us different

Like any business, the John Lewis Partnership is commercial and competitive, but we believe our co-ownership business model gives us three significant advantages.

It allows us to take a long-term view. We can build lasting, mutually benefi cial relationships with our suppliers, customers and neighbours, because we don’t have to deliver short-term gain for shareholders.

We can maximise the value of employee ownership. Partners have worthwhile, secure and fulfi lling employment, which generates loyalty, pride, job satisfaction, knowledge and empowerment.

We can act in the interests of society. As a long-term employer and neighbour, our desire is to conduct all our business with integrity and courtesy, behave as a good corporate citizen and contribute to the communities where we operate.


Our business model

PARTNERS

We aim to employ people of ability and integrity who are committed to making the Partnership a great place to work and a great place to shop.

CUSTOMERS

We want to provide customers with the best possible shopping experience, with outstanding choice, value, and polite, knowledgeable and consistent service.

PROFIT

This should be sufficient to sustain our commercial vitality and distinctive character, finance our continued development, and enable us to distribute a share of profits each year to all Partners.


“Our business model with its focus on Partners, secures their experience and commitment and fosters a desire to perform, for their teams, for their customers and ultimately through the Partnership, for themselves. We call it the Partner-Customer-Profi t circle. Many businesses have something similar – the employee-customerprofit chain – but there’s a key difference. There’s a break at the end of their chain where the profit flows mainly to external shareholders. In our business it flows to our Partners and so the circle starts all over again. That’s a powerful differentiator.”

Charlie Mayfield, Chairman


CSR strategic review

Over the years we have made signifi cant progress in embedding CSR into our everyday business practices. Our performance, achievements and the independent recognition we have received demonstrate this. However, in 2008 we decided it was the right time to take stock of where we were on our CSR journey and to look at how we might tackle some of the more challenging CSR opportunities. This has led to a review of our commitments and priorities, the development of a framework to support their delivery and the establishment of a new CSR governance structure (see page 6).

This work is ongoing, and some of the new targets and commitments will require further review and stretch. In the future we will measure and report our progress against them in four core CSR areas: our customers, products and suppliers; our people; our communities and our environment.

Over the coming year our focus will remain on mobilising the new governance groups; driving forward our CSR programmes; continuing to improve the robustness of our internal processes and controls; and refining our approach to stakeholder engagement and communication.