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CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE

"Our values and principles remain a powerful driver on our continuous journey to be a more sustainable business.

Our business takes a long-term view, operating in the interests of not just those who work for us now, but those who will follow in the future."


The John Lewis Partnership faces similar CSR challenges to other major retailers but in one respect our response is very different. That’s the energy and passion of our Partners who, as co-owners of our business, drive our work to operate an ever-more sustainable and responsible business.

The Partnership has always taken a long-term view, guided by our values and principles and operating in the interests, not just of those connected to us now, but also those who will follow in the future. This approach has driven our continuous investment in tackling environmental challenges and achieving a highly positive social impact through difficult economic times.

We have made good progress over the last year in supporting our suppliers, including helping British producers to improve labour practices and widening our support for African farming communities through the expansion of the Waitrose Foundation. We have also launched the John Lewis Foundation to our suppliers, which will fund and manage projects that support and service the communities from which John Lewis products are sourced. A key focus now is on decoupling business growth from carbon emissions. We have set ourselves the ambition of achieving an absolute reduction in our carbon emissions by 2020, which will be a significant challenge, since we are looking to double the size of our business during that time.

We remain confident that the shared responsibility among the co-owners of our business, together with the loyalty and support of our customers, suppliers and business associates, will ensure that we continue to demonstrate that the Partnership offers society a better and more sustainable way of doing business.

Charlie Mayfield

Chairman, John Lewis Partnership