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John Lewis to close eight stores

 John Lewis store in Birmingham  - Jacob King/PA
John Lewis store in Birmingham - Jacob King/PA

John Lewis is to close eight shops including the Birmingham and Watford department stores, putting 1,300 jobs at risk.

The remaining six outlets to close include its smallest stores - the travel hub shops at Heathrow airport and St Pancras station - as well as four At Home shops in Croydon, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth.

The employee-owned retailer said the eight shops were already financially challenged before coronavirus, which had accelerated the switch to online shopping.

The proportion of online sales for John Lewis was about 40pc but could rise as high as 70pc this year and next.

Chairman Dame Sharon White said she believed the closures were necessary to help secure the Partnership's future.

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"Redundancies are always an absolute last resort and we will do everything we can to keep as many partners as possible within our business," she said.

Sharon White
Sharon White

The Birmingham department store only opened five years ago as part of the redevelopment of New Street Station. Its proposed closure sparked a furious reaction from Andy Street, Conservative mayor of the West Midlands and the former managing director of John Lewis department stores.

Mr Street said the closure was "incredibly disappointing" and risked being a "dreadful mistake". "My belief in its potential is unwavering, and I still believe the store can not only be a great success, but also provide a brilliant retail offer for the city and the wider region," he said on Twitter.

New roles will be sought for staff made redundant who want to keep working for the John Lewis Partnership, including roles at Waitrose stores or with the online shopping operations for the supermarket or department stores.

Staff who do lose their jobs will get two weeks’ pay for every year of service, regardless of age, as well as statutory redundancy payments. Those who have worked with the business for less than a year will get an ex-gratia tax-free payment equivalent to one week’s pay.

Dame Sharon said there were many reasons to be optimistic about the Partnership’s future.

"Waitrose and John Lewis are two of the UK’s most loved and trusted brands and we have adapted to the challenges of the pandemic by responding to the new needs of customers. We will soon announce the output of our strategic review which will ensure our brands stay relevant for future generations of customers,” she said.

In March the Partnership said profits excluding staff bonuses fell 23pc to £123m for 2019 on revenues 1.6pc lower at £10.2bn. Pre-tax profit rose by a quarter to £146m, however.

The closure announcement came as John Lewis said stores in Aberdeen, Ashford, Brent Cross, Chichester, Oxford, Peterborough, Reading, Sheffield, Swindon and White City Westfield would reopen on 30 July.

Leicester will also reopen when the local lockdown ends, bringing the total number of reopened John Lewis shops to 42.