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John Lewis eyes affordable housing as revenue earner as it aims for 40% profits from ‘non-retail’ activities

John Lewis Partnership, parent company of John Lewis and Waitrose, has said it expects 40% of its profits to come from non-retail activities, with the company eyeing affordable housing as a key part of this.

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John Lewis said some of its stores may not reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic (picture: Getty)
John Lewis said some of its stores may not reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic (picture: Getty)
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@jlpartnership has said it expects 40% of its profits to come from non-retail activities, such as housing, in the coming year #UKhousing

In a financial update this month, John Lewis announced a £517m pre-tax loss for 2020 and set out its new plan to diversify its business to boost its finances.

“With retail margins declining and the partnership wishing to return more benefit to partners, customers and communities, we are aiming that by 2030, 40% of our profits will come from areas outside of retail, namely financial services, housing and outdoor living,” the organisation said.

The mutual announced in July last year that it would look at converting unused shop space into affordable homes.


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In a further update in October the business said it had identified 20 sites on which it plans to provide new housing, with planning applications for the first two scheduled for this year.

At the time, John Lewis, which operates 42 stores in the UK, confirmed to Inside Housing that the 20 sites would include both social and private housing.

As an indication of its commitment to the social housing sector, the group hired Dame Clare Tickell, former chief executive of Hanover Housing Association (now Anchor Hanover), as an independent director in October 2019.

During the year to January 2021, John Lewis swung from a profit of £146m to a loss of £517m and admitted that it “does not expect” all of its stores to reopen when coronavirus restrictions are lifted. The organisation said the year has been “one of the most challenging in the partnership’s history”.

John Lewis said: “We plan to invest £800m in 2021/22 to support our turnaround, approximately 40% higher than recent years. Given this raised level of investment, we expect our financial results – including liquidity, debt ratio, and profit before exceptionals – to worsen in 2021/22 and then improve in later years.”

Update at 11:05am, 19.03.21:

This story was updated to clarify that the plans relate to John Lewis Partnership, not just John Lewis the department store giant.

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