While sitting on my John Lewis stool yesterday, I listened - as is my habit - to the excellent LBC breakfast show presented by Nick Ferrari, talk radio’s equal of Ken Bruce and, I know he won’t be offended, a sort of wireless version of John Lewis. But instead of diversifying the company’s portfolio, such as building John Lewis-branded flats - which sound a bit like the ‘luxury’ apartments in Rwanda being touted by Home Secretary Sue Ellen Braverman - she should take another look at the core business which has always underpinned its success.Ĭhairman Sharon White (pictured) is considering diluting the company’s staff-owned co-operative model as she attempts to attract investment from outside investors So Sharon White can’t be criticised for trying to inject more money into John Lewis, even if that means watering down the employee partnership deal. MailOnline has just published a cut-your-wrists gallery of boarded-up shops in London’s Oxford Street, which have all gone under in the past few years. Things are pretty grim in the wonderful world of Grace Brothers and beyond. Let’s hope the Welwyn branch survives that long. Whenever he got lost, my dear old friend the sports writer and FA Cup historian Mike Collett, who grew up in nearby Hendon and has the world’s worst sense of direction, would head for the John Lewis car park to get his bearings and navigate his way home.Īnother Hendon native, the novelist Shirley Conran, was a big fan, too.Īfter ULEZ is extended beyond the North Circular, Brent Cross’s loss is going to be Welwyn’s gain. John Lewis has been a North London landmark since it was the anchor tenant of Britain’s first indoor shopping mall in 1976. On a clear day you can see the flyover at Staples Corner. I used to go to the John Lewis restaurant at Brent Cross - The Place To Eat, smoked salmon bagels a speciality - with my mum. We’re halfway between the Brent Cross and Welwyn Garden City branches. The staff are as good as it gets, almost certainly because they have been incentivised by having skin in the game. It feels like another of those ‘Day they knocked down the Palais’ moments.Īs a matter of principle, we’ve always tried to use local businesses for everything from blinds to bird baths.īut when it’s come to the big stuff, the only place to turn has been John Lewis. Stores have been forced to close for good, including the flagship Birmingham Bull Ring branch, which was opened in a blaze of glory just a few years ago.įirst Ken Bruce, now John Lewis. Lately, however, with the slump in footfall on High Streets caused by Covid and rip-off parking charges by ravenous local councils, the bonuses have dried up. Since 1950, the company has been jointly owned by its employees, who have been able to top up their salaries with annual bonuses. I’d been reading about the upheavals at the John Lewis Partnership, which has been as hard hit as other retailers by the pandemic and the shift to online ordering.Ĭhairman Sharon White is considering diluting the company’s staff-owned co-operative model as she attempts to attract investment from outside investors. For as long I can remember, John Lewis has been the patron saint of Daily Mail Land, especially since St Michael of Marks & Sparks started serving up ridiculously expensive LGBTQWERTY+ sandwiches instead of six-packs of reasonably priced knickers. My guess is that a fair proportion of you reading this column could say pretty much the same. So yesterday, as most mornings, started with me sitting on my John Lewis stool, at our John Lewis breakfast bar, in our John Lewis kitchen, sipping strong coffee from a John Lewis mug and munching a bacon and egg banjo, cooked in a John Lewis frying pan on a John Lewis hob and served on a John Lewis plate. 'For as long I can remember, John Lewis has been the patron saint of Daily Mail Land, especially since St Michael of Marks & Sparks started serving up ridiculously expensive LGBTQWERTY+ sandwiches instead of six-packs of reasonably priced knickers'
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |