Page 18 Building and operating sustainable shops


Our ambitious plans for growth provide a significant opportunity to minimise the environmental impact of our built assets and offer long-term value to the local community. This involves ensuring all our shops suit their surroundings, are built responsibly and operate sustainably. We also believe in keeping town centres vibrant by maintaining the shops we have in these locations, and choosing city centre sites where possible.


Building and operating sustainable shops

Ambition
To build and operate sustainable, low-impact shops that provide healthy and comfortable environments for our Partners and customers.

Targets
> Apply our Sustainable Construction Framework to all new builds and work towards achieving BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) 'excellent' status or equivalent
> Recycle more of our building waste and increase the use of recycled materials in new builds to 25%


More information and detailed data can be found on www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk

See the John Lewis CSR report for more information on our sister company


Our expansion strategy
Our aim to double the size of our business by 2017 has seen an extensive and ambitious programme of building, acquisition and refurbishment. During 2007–08, we opened new shops from Christchurch to Cheadle Hulme, and acquired six shops from Somerfield, Co-op and Budgens. Other recent additions – four Woolworths shops in prime London locations – will create up to 700 jobs, attract up to 200,000 new customers, and take our total number of shops in the capital to 44.

Waitrose has also announced plans to trial smaller shops, mainly in market towns. These will dedicate about half of their selling space to fresh food, much of which will be locally sourced, reflecting the ambience of a traditional grocery shop. The first of these new-format shops opened in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, in May 2008.