Department store John Lewis has made over 1,800 employees redundant in the year to the end of June.
In the group’s staff magazine, the Gazette, they revealed the rise in employment redundancies by 289 percent compared to the previous 12 months.
Last week, the retailer revealed plans to change its name to “John Lewis & Partners”, whilst also planning a further 270 job cuts.
“Our annual results reflect the challenging market conditions all department store groups are facing,” said a spokesperson. “We have restructured parts of the business and have made the difficult decision to cut staff numbers.”
John Lewis also said that it had created many jobs over the past 12 months including 600 staff when it opened its new Westfield store in White City.
The group has a total of 83,000 staff.
John Lewis said it expects full-year profits to be significantly down after they warned of a likely fall in profits in June amid the Brexit uncertainty.
The department store now plans to cut costs at its head office, stopping investment in new stores and review its pension arrangements. It also hopes to invest £500 million a year into refurbishing its stores and website, as well as developing new products and services.
“We are determined to play the long game and our ownership model means we can,” said John Lewis boss Paula Nickolds.
“While others are investing in drones, we are investing in people. Where others are cutting back, we are investing in the very thing that is our point of difference.”
