Dame Sharon White Faces Crisis at John Lewis

The unprecedented vote has dealt a blow to Dame Sharon's efforts to revive the partnership. Photo: John Lewis

Dame Sharon White fights to contain the backlash against John Lewis after his staff board lost a vote over her running the business.

The authority of the company's chairman was dealt a blow on Wednesday when the 58-member council stated that this was the case. unsure of John Lewis' performance over the past year under her leadership.

The Board supported Ms Sharon's future strategy in a second vote, but analysts said the results were nevertheless a significant public disgrace.

Clive Black of Shore Capital called the results a «self-injury».

John Lewis insisted that a vote on the future was the more important of the two, and denied that an uprising had taken place.

This comes amid growing unrest after John Lewis, who owns Waitrose, as well as department stores of the same name, reported an annual loss of £230m and canceled the annual employee bonus for only the second time in 50 years. .

Ms. Sharon said at a biennial staff meeting at the Odney Club in Berkshire on Wednesday that John Lewis will get stronger.

Dame Sharon is under mounting pressure after John Lewis reported a £234m loss in March. ;not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to dance in the rain"

Dame Sharon added: “I love that quote. In other words, it says that it's not the difficult moments themselves that are important, but how you respond to those difficult moments. This is a real test of your character and the strength of your partnership."

The staff council members are elected by the John Lewis employees who jointly own the business.

The Board votes on the activity of the chairman twice a year, although the wording of the proposals is not always the same and the results are not always published.

On Wednesday, when asked if he was confident in the progress of the partnership under the leadership of Dame Sharon over the last year, the council voted to disagree.

When asked if he supported her efforts to advance the partnership in regards to its purpose, principles and rules, it voted yes.

John Lewis declined to say how close each vote was.

While the votes are non-binding, they are expected to conduct further reviews of Dame Sharon's work as she rushes to revive the partnership.

Chris Earnshaw, Council President, said: «The Council voted in favor of the Chairman to advance the partnership in regarding its purposes, principles and rules.

"The board did not support last year's results, in which we reported full year losses and no partner bonuses."

He said the meeting was «central to how we we implement our democratic principles and responsibility for business".

Analysts have questioned the decision to release the vote at a time when Dame Sharon is already facing pressure over her strategy.

Mr. Black said: «It's like washing dirty laundry in public, while most private companies would not approve of such a display.

'I'm sure it will a really disappointing day for Sharon and you have to hope that the team will regroup and start moving in the right direction together because if they continue like this they will just explode on their own."

A spokesman for John Lewis said: «No one in our business was happy with last year's results and the Board was able to share this sentiment — it shows that our democracy is working.»

"There is no response, and everyone is focused on working together to improve our business for clients."

John Lewis fought inflation because last year, which according to Ms Sharon was 'like a whirlwind'.

The company sought to cut an additional £600m after losses rose to more than £230m in its most recent financial year.

Financial difficulties prompted John Lewis to cut his affiliate bonus in only his second year. once in its history last year.

Ms. Sharon said when the business results were announced in March that John Lewis also cannot &#34 do as much as we would like to pay&#34 ;.< /p>

In her speech before the vote on Wednesday, she said that the salary situation was «incredibly difficult.»

Dame Sharon added: «I wish we could pay partners more this year, but that would come at the expense of jobs.» is a top priority, not bonuses."

Questions also focused on the future of the partnership as Dame Sharon considers bringing in an outside investor in John Lewis and ending more than 70 years of full-time staff ownership.

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The proposed move raised concerns among senior industry officials, including Mary Portas, who earlier this year said the retailer had «let go of the soul.»

Answering questions on Wednesday, Dame Sharon said that the partnership «will always be an employee-owned business, no ifs, no buts.»

She said that «there is absolutely no question of demutualization here" and that the council may consider outside investment «if and only if this arrangement be fully concordant with the 1929 and 1950 Trust Deeds and if this would have any effect on the constitution, the council would play a role in the ordinary course.» #34;.