Tag Archives: john lewis

Warner Bros.’ Batman vs Superman tops the John Lewis ten toys for Christmas list

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The Warner Bros. and DC Comics icon, Batman has swooped in on the first of the major retailers’ top Christmas toy predictions this year, having secured top billing within John Lewis’s Top Ten Toys for Christmas 2021.

It’s Warner Bros Consumer Products’ partnership with the leading hobby brand, Hornby’s own Scalextric that is tipped to excite Christmas shoppers this season, featuring not once but twice upon a list that otherwise sees licenses somewhat thin on the ground this year.

The Scalextric Batman vs Superman (exclusive to John Lewis) sits atop the list, followed by the retailer’s non-exclusive version. A read through the top ten, however, and it’s a sparse presence that the licensing department holds with the retailer’s selection this year.

A £59.99 Harry Potter Games Compendium features above the Tonies Soft Cuddly Friends – Hoppie Rabbit Audio Play line this year, while the seven items selected among this year’s top ten lean towards the traditional toy and play-sets trend, tipped to be a core element within the Christmas toy shopping scene this year by the retailer.

LEGO makes its appearance in the form of its LEGO Elf Clubhouse, while sustainability finds itself at the forefront as John Lewis places its FSC Wooden My 1st Train Set and FSC Wooden Waitrose Supermarket firmly within the top ten picks.

Elsewhere, Ravensburger secures two listing with its Space Puzzle and Gravitrax Pro Starter Extrme (another John Lewis exclusive), while the rundown is made complete by the Secret Garden Book and the Kaloo My First Doll.

Rachael Larkman, toy buyer at John Lewis, said: “This year we’ve seen a huge surge in the popularity of traditional toys and games that can be enjoyed by the whole family. We predict this trend will continue for Christmas 2021.

“The selection chosen by our panel includes toys suitable for all ages – a great variety that will guarantee excitement on Christmas day.”

Five new faces join The Point. 1888’s expanding commercial, retail, product, and finance teams

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The momentum continues to gather apace at the brand extension agency, The Point. 1888 as a swathe of new starters sees the company expand across its commercial, retail, product development, and finance departments this month.

The latest line-up of new faces to join the team follows the company’s latest sweep of appointments that saw it bolster its marketing division for Story.1888 only this month. In its latest recruitment drive, The Point. 1888 has brought in five new faces in order to support its increasing client base and product development programme.

Rosanna Cousins, who has several years’ of retail buyer experience at John Lewis and Harrods, has joined as The Point.1888’s newest retail manager. She will report to head of retail and sport, Hannah Stevens, to support the division as it prepares for a busy year ahead.

Sophie Fennessy has joined the team as senior PD executive and will be working within the fast-paced product development division, putting to use her vast licensee experience gathered at previous employer Poetic Brands. Meanwhile, Naomi Serradimigni – previously of the ambassador marketing platform, Brandbassador –  has joined as The Point.1888’s new senior commercial executive with a focus on health and beauty categories.

Max Pilcher, the agency’s newest commercial executive, joins from ViacomCBS and will report into senior commercial manager of soft goods, Becky Langer, to support work across the portfolio and assisting with sub-agents in Italy and Iberia, while finally, Mia Wakeling, joins as finance assistant to work in the agency’s busy finance department.

Despite the pandemic’s best efforts, The Point.1888 has welcomed 11 new clients and this growth in the agency and its client book made the decision to recruit once more an easy one.

Bethan Garton, commercial director at The Point.1888, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for us as we expand the licensing arm of our agency, continuing the growth we have seen in recent years. Bringing Rosanna, Sophie, Naomi, Max and Mia to the commercial and brand teams at The Point.1888 allows us to continue the fantastic work we do with Moonbug, Rachel Ellen and all of our other brands, whilst still attracting new clients.”

Will Stewart, managing director of The Point.1888, added: “I am incredibly excited to welcome Rosanna, Sophie, Max, Mia and Naomi to Team.1888 family. Our amazing book of clients and our high profile within the industry mean we have no shortage of talent to choose from when new roles are created and I’m confident that we’ve picked the very best.

“Their energy and enthusiasm as well as the diverse experience they bring will undoubtedly give our team the support it needs to continue our growth.”

Disney, John Lewis, and Argos join BRC charter of 55 retailers with pledge for better diversity and inclusion

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More than 50 major retailers, including The Disney Store, John Lewis, Argos, and The Very Group have signed to a new charter to take ‘decisive action’ to improve their diversity and inclusion practices.

It follows research from the British Retail Consortium that discovered that seven out of ten (around 69 per cent) of retail firms have top three board positions – chair, chief executive, and chief financial officer – all filled by men.

The same research found that more than one in five retailers have no women at all on their Boards, while 15 per cent have no women on their executive committees. Only 9.6 per cent of the industry’s CEOs are women, and only 4.3 per cent of the sector’s Chairs are women.

This is despite the matter that 58 per cent of the retail workforce is made up of women.

Compiled by the BRC in collaboration with PwC and MBS Group, the research also found that retail ‘has very few black or ethnic minority leaders,’ highlighting that 4.5 per cent of Boards, 5.8 per cent of Executive Committees, and six per cent of Direct Reports to Boards are from an ethnic minority background.

Diversity and inclusion has been highlighted as a priority by some 84 per cent of retailers, but only half or retail employees agree that D&I is sufficiently high up their employers’ agenda.

The likes of Sainsbury’s, Asda, LIDL, and Boots have now joined a group of more than 50 retailers to have signed the charter, pledging to improve their diversity and inclusion practices on all grounds.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retail revolves around the customer, and to serve the needs of a diverse country, we need a diversity of ideas, experiences and backgrounds across our businesses.

“Five years ago, the BRC set out a vision for Better Jobs and aspired for retail to be a Diversity and Inclusion leader. The data collected by PwC and The MBS Group in our Diversity and Inclusion in retail report shows there is so much more to be done if we are to reach this goal.

“Nonetheless, I am confident about the road ahead. The first step to achieving change is acknowledgement and understanding of where the challenges lie. Now, we must act. I am proud to see so many retailers pledge to better their businesses and create equal opportunities for all and I am excited to see what the future holds once greater diversity and inclusion is achieved.”

Elliott Goldstein, managing partner at The MBS Group, added: “Retail leadership continues to be unrepresentative of the UK population in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability and social mobility.

“Given that women make up 64.3 per cent of the retail workforce, and are responsible for up to 80 per cent of purchasing decisions, it should not be the case in 2021 that women are under-represented at all leadership levels – including in the top role, where under 10 per cent of CEOs are women.

“One in five retailers still have all male boards, and 15 per cent of Executive Committees have no women. Likewise, the level of ethnic minority representation amongst the industry’s leaders falls well short compared to the wider population; our research shows that 81 per cent of the largest retailers have all white boards – and 68 per cent have no ethnic minority leadership on their Executive Committees.

“Whilst undoubtedly significant change has been driven in the last decade, there is still a long way to go.”

John Lewis confirms eight stores will not reopen after lockdown lifts in April

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The department store chain, John Lewis has confirmed plans to not reopen eight of its 42 UK stores when the current lockdown lifts on April 12th this year. The move will put more than 1,400 jobs at risk.

The retailer’s stores in Aberdeen, Sheffield, Peterborough, and York will remain closed, as well as four of its smaller ‘At Home’ stores in Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, Basingstoke, and Chester. The planned closures will threaten the future of a total of 1,465 roles with the firm.

The latest development echoes of similar actions taken by the department store chain when its kept eight other stores permanently closed after the first lockdown last year. As of April 12th this year, John Lewis’ estate of department stores will stand at 34.

John Lewis has pointed towards the ‘significant shift towards online shopping in recent years’ as the reasoning behind the latest closures, adding that the decision followed “substantial research to identify and cater for new customer shopping habits in different parts of the country.” According to the team, the eight stores were already “financially challenged prior to the pandemic.”

In a statement, the company said that it believes the online shopping trend “will not materially reverse” and that the performance of these eight stores “can be substantially improved.”

Previously, the group has voiced its expectations that at least three fifths of revenues will be generated online, even when shops are trading normally again.

“Having fewer bigger stores allows us to invest significantly to improve our remaining ones,” said the company. It will also test new, smaller, local shops along with stores within its Waitrose supermarkets.

John Lewis to axe a further 1,500 head office jobs in cost-saving plans

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John Lewis is to axe a further 1,500 jobs at its headquarters in central London as the UK retailer continues to look for means to cut £300 million in costs and prepare its operations for a digital-centric era.

The company has also confirmed today that Patrick Lewis, the group’s finance director since 2015 will be leaving.

Sharon White, chairman of the partnership, said that losing partners was “incredibly hard as an employee-owned business” but added that “we must be agile and able to adapt quickly to the changing needs of our customers”.

The Financial Times reports that the latest round of cuts follows a cull of 1,800 jobs when the group decided against reopening eight stores following the end of the UK’s first national lockdown in June, with some redundancies associated with the outsourcing of the group’s IT functions.

The cuts are part of a cost-saving plan drawn up before the pandemic and announced by Dame Sharon’s predecessor, Charlie Mayfield in October last year. Their implementation, which will be completed by April next year, was delayed by Covid-19.

John Lewis has also shored up its balance sheet by paying off expensive debt, selling some store freeholds, cutting bonuses for partners to historic lows and closing its generous final salary pension scheme.

Mr Lewis will be succeeded as finance director by Bérangère Michel, currently executive director of customer service and a former finance executive at Royal Mail.

“Patrick told me a while ago of his wish to leave the partnership to seek new opportunities. I’m very grateful to him for agreeing to stay until we’d been able to identify a successor,” Dame Sharon added.

Boots to cut 4,000 jobs and John Lewis to close eight of its 50 stores in amid Covid-19 fallout

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The UK retailer, Boots is to cut 4,000 jobs, its parent company Walgreen Boots Alliance has announced, having been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures. The company said it will cut around seven per cent of its UK workforce.

According to Walgreens, sales at Boots have plunged during the lockdown.

“The adverse impact of Covid-19 on sales in the quarter was approximately $700 million to $750 million, with the majority of the impact related to the Retail Pharmacy International division,” the company said in a statement released today. “This reflected a dramatic reduction in footfall in Boots UK stores – down 85 per cent in April, as consumers were advised to leave home only for food and medicine.”

Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO, Stefano Pessina has said: “Prior to the pandemic our financial performance for fiscal 2020 was on track with our expectations. However, this unprecedented global crisis led to a loss in the quarter as stay-at-home orders affected all of our markets.

“Shopping patterns are evolving more rapidly than ever as consumers further embrace digital options, spurring us to accelerate our ongoing investments in digital transformation and neighbourhood health destinations.”

Boots’ announcement follows further bad news for retail as John Lewis detailed its own plans to close eight of its 50 stores this morning, including major outlets in Birmingham and Watford. The closure will result in the loss of around 1,300 jobs.

All four of the group’s smaller At Home stores, in Croydon, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth, are to close as well as two outlets in travel hubs at Heathrow and St Pancras station in London, reports The Guardian.

The Group has said that the eight shops were already ‘financially challenged’ before the outbreak of coronavirus, but that the pandemic had accelerated the move from in-store shopping to online. Figures state that before the virus hit, 40 per cent of John Lewis sales were online, but since the pandemic, this could now be closer to 60 to 70 per cent of total sales this year and next.

Sharon White, the chairman of the department store’s parent group – the John Lewis Partnership, said: “Closing a shop is always incredibly difficult and today’s announcement will come as very sad news to customers and partners. However, we believe closures are necessary to help us secure the sustainability of the partnership, and continue to meet the needs of our customers and wherever they want to shop.

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

“There are 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.”