John Lewis Partnership chair Dame Sharon White has claimed the business will “more than break-even” this year, following a loss of £234m last year.
In a video message to staff, White said the partnership, which consists of both Waitrose and John Lewis, is on track to “build back to sustainable profit for the business”, The Telegraph reported.
She said: “There’s been an awful lot of change over the past year. But those efforts are starting to show themselves in our commercial performance.
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“We are converting more of our sales into return to partners, and we will more than breakeven this year, which is a great start as we build back to sustainable profit for the business.”
The announcement comes after news that the business is to slash up to 11,000 jobs over the next five years as part of its turnaround plan.
In her video message, White unveiled wider plans for the partnership’s turnaround, including all employees at Waitrose receiving customer service training for the first time. Previously it had only offered specialist training to some workers.
Waitrose has faced customer criticism over worsening customer service in its supermarkets, with John Lewis acknowledging earlier this week that it had “lost ground on customer sentiment”.
