John Lewis staff rebuke Sharon White over losses but back her to continue

theguardian.com:

The boss of John Lewis pledged the group would always remain employee-owned “no ifs no buts” after staff members backed her to continue as chair but expressed their dismay at the retailer’s poor performance last year.

Sharon White had faced controversy after reports she was considering selling a stake in the company to an outside investor in an attempt to raise £2bn. On Wednesday, her leadership was tested in a confidence vote at a twice-yearly meeting of the retailer’s 60-strong council, which is elected by employees to represent them.

Announcing the result of votes on past performance and White’s ongoing mandate, Chris Earnshaw, president of the partnership council, said: “The council voted in support of the chairman to progress the partnership in relation to its purpose, principles and rules. The council did not support last year’s performance, in which we reported a full-year loss and no partner bonus.”

The department store and Waitrose supermarket owner reported hefty losses for 2022, which meant staff did not receive an annual bonus.

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Speaking ahead of the vote, White told the council: “I want to be absolutely categorical. The John Lewis Partnership will always be an employee-owned business, no ifs no buts. There is absolutely no question of demutualisation. Our model is the reason I joined the partnership as I believe in a form of kinder capitalism in the 21st century which demonstrates our ability to combine commercial excellence with social purpose. It’s what makes us special.”