The John Lewis Partnership in a Nutshell

Three divisions

The Partnership currently brings together three divisions, Waitrose, John Lewis and Partnership Services.  The first comprises the food shops of the Partnership, the second the department stores and the third, Partnership Services, controls the services which run the operation behind the scenes.

Co-ownership

The Partnership as a co-owned business traces its creation to 1929 when its inspirational owner John Spedan Lewis transferred all his shares in John Lewis and Co Ltd into a trust.

Family beginnings

Before that John Lewis was a family run business.  Set up by John Lewis, Spedan’s father, in 1864, the first shop on Oxford Street was a drapery business which prospered and enabled the purchase of a second shop, Peter Jones in 1905. Spedan Lewis and his brother Oswald joined their father at Oxford Street but Oswald decided to try a different career and sold his shares to his brother.

Expansion

When Mr John Lewis died in 1928 Spedan became the sole owner and was able to introduce his ideas of profit sharing, already started in Peter Jones, across the two shops.  In the years that followed he increased the size of the business by adding firstly the Leckford Estate, which became his family home, and then purchasing Jessops of Nottingham, Lance and Lance of Weston Super Mare and Tyrrell and Green of Southampton. Waitrose also joined the Partnership in 1937.

More growth took place in 1940 with the acquisition of the 15 department stores of the Selfridge Provincial Group.  Despite the damage to many shops during the Second World War the Partnership continued trading and further increased in size.

Today

The Partnership now employs over 80,000 Partners who are able to share in any profits of the business at the end of each financial year through the continuing legacy of John Spedan Lewis and his business structure.