John Lewis Partnership announces partnership with Wipro to support new technology and change function

Tuesday 30 June 2020

The John Lewis Partnership has today announced the creation of a new partnership with Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, to provide infrastructure services. This represents a significant step in the creation of the Partnership’s new Technology and Change function, which will better support its business strategy and enable it to respond even more quickly to the digital expectations of customers.

Following a comprehensive review of the Partnership’s existing IT and Change capabilities, this agreement with Wipro represents a major change in the way the business will develop and run its technology infrastructure, ensuring that services which rely on these digital foundations are delivered swiftly, securely and successfully.

Wipro will deliver technology infrastructure services such as cloud hosting, networks, end user compute and an internal help desk for the Partnership’s 80,000 Partners. To support this new relationship, 244 non-customer facing John Lewis Partnership Partners are expected to transfer to Wipro later this year under the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment regulations (TUPE). Once with Wipro, these Partners will continue to work closely with the John Lewis Partnership in their new roles.

Mike Sackman, Chief Information Officer at the John Lewis Partnership said: “Today is an important milestone in the evolution of our Technology and Change team, as we become better equipped to support the Partnership’s future business strategy. Consumer behaviour is changing and in a post COVID-19 world we need to be more agile, adapting more quickly to change. Wipro will support us in the delivery of that ambition, ensuring that we always have access to up-to-date technologies and specialist expertise. Partners transferring to this new supplier - like those who continue to be directly employed by the Partnership - will remain fundamental to the success of our Technology and Change activity and to the future success of our business.”

Srini Pallia, President, Consumer Business Unit, Wipro Limited said: “We are happy to be selected as a strategic transformation partner by the John Lewis Partnership. Retail and consumer buying behaviour have transformed and our big bets on industry solutions, Cloud, Digital, Cyber Security and Wipro’s AI and Automation Platform Wipro HOLMES™, position us well to accelerate the Partnership’s key priorities. Both companies have synergistic value systems and we look forward to building a successful long term partnership.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis Partnership owns and operates two of Britain's best-loved retail brands - John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners. Started as a radical idea nearly a century ago, the Partnership is the largest employee-owned business in the UK and amongst the largest in the world, with over 80,000 employees who are all Partners in the business. For all intents and purposes, the Partnership is a social enterprise; the profits made are reinvested into the business - for customers and Partners. John Lewis & Partners operates 50 shops across the UK (36 department stores, 12 John Lewis at home and shops at St Pancras International and Heathrow Terminal 2) as well as johnlewis.com. Waitrose & Partners has 338 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 61 convenience branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations. Waitrose & Partners exports products to more than 50 countries worldwide and has nine shops which operate under licence in the Middle East. The retailer's omnichannel business includes the online grocery service, Waitrose.com, as well as specialist online shops including waitrosecellar.com for wine and waitroseflorist.com for plants and flowers. Our food business is bigger than our non-food business and our John Lewis shop sales represent less than a quarter of the Partnership’s total revenue.

About Wipro Limited

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have over 175,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents. Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a bold new future.

media ENQUIRIES

John Lewis Partnership


Sarah Henderson
Partner & Senior External Communications Manager
Tel: 07764 676036
Email: sarah.henderson@johnlewis.co.uk