John Lewis Partnership relaunches Business Account Card

Monday 27 June 2016

  
The John Lewis Partnership has today relaunched the John Lewis and Waitrose Business Account Card to offer customers an enhanced and more convenient service as part of a renewed focus on its B2B operations. This follows the relaunch of John Lewis for Business, the retailer's B2B arm, last year and the continuing growth of Waitrose's B2B division.

The John Lewis and Waitrose Business Account Card is a charge card created for companies, including sole traders, to make purchases at John Lewis, Waitrose and John Lewis for Business, which allows trade customers to purchase products across John Lewis' and Waitrose's product range at discounted prices.

The Business Account Card has been relaunched in partnership with leading digital services and payments provider Worldline UK and will offer account holders an enhanced service offering including:

  • Increased online account accessibility
  • Detailed VAT reporting
  • Ability to set up subaccounts and multiple cardholders
  • Selfservice account management and
  • Quarterly rebates based on accrued spend.
     

Katie Papakonstantinou, Head of John Lewis for Business, said: 'The improved Business Account Card offers trade customers a number of benefits aimed at providing greater visibility and control over their spend, delivering the quality, value and customer service for which the John Lewis Partnership is known.'

Rupert Thomas, Waitrose's Marketing Director, added: 'Our accounts are used by a wide range of businesses from schools to major companies. This major relaunch will make it far easier for card holders to keep track of their accounts, as well as the discounts they earn.'

Johnny Astbury, Director of Worldline Merchant Services, said: 'Worldline is proud to be working with the John Lewis Partnership to deliver this exciting new product to its trade customers, and looks forward to helping the Partnership continue to lead the evolution of their customer's experience.'

Notes to editors

The John Lewis Partnership - The John Lewis Partnership operates 46 John Lewis shops across the UK, johnlewis.com, 348 Waitrose shops, waitrose.com and business to business contracts in the UK and abroad. The business has annual gross sales of over £11bn. It is the UK's largest example of worker co-ownership where all 91,500 staff are Partners in the business.

Waitrose - winner of the Best Supermarket1 and Best Food Retailer2 awards- currently has 348 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 60 convenience branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations. It combines the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop - dedicated to offering quality food that has been responsibly sourced, combined with high standards of customer service.  Waitrose also exports its products to 59 countries worldwide and has eight shops which operate under licence in the Middle East. Waitrose's omnichannel business includes the online grocery service Waitrose.com, as well as specialsit online shops including waitrosecellar.com for wine and waitrosekitchen.com for cookware, utensils and kithchen gadgets.

¹ Which? Customer Survey
² Verdict Customer Satisfaction Awards

John Lewis - John Lewis operates 46 John Lewis shops across the UK (32 department stores, 12 John Lewis at home and shops at St Pancras International and Heathrow Terminal 2) as well as johnlewis.com. It is part of the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest example of worker co-ownership and all 30,000 John Lewis staff are Partners in the business. John Lewis, 'Best In-Store Experience 2016', 'Best Clothing Retailer 2016,' 'Best Electricals Retailer 2016,' 'Best Furniture Retailer 2016,' 'Best Homewares Retailer 2016' and 'Best Click & Collect Retailer 2016'¹, typically stocks more than 350,000 separate lines in its department stores across fashion, home and technology. Johnlewis.com stocks over 280,000 products, and is consistently ranked one of the top online shopping destinations in the UK. John Lewis Insurance offers a range of comprehensive insurance products - home, car, wedding and event, travel and pet insurance and life cover - delivering the values of expertise, trust and customer service expected from the John Lewis brand.

1 Verdict Consumer Satisfaction Awards 2016

You can follow John Lewis on the following social media channels:
www.johnlewis.com/twitter
www.johnlewis.com/facebook
www.johnlewis.com/youtube.

Enquiries

For further information please contact:

John Lewis Partnership 
Katie Robson
Senior Manager, Group External Communications Manager, John Lewis Partnership
Telephone: 020 7592 6296

Gill Smith, Senior Manager, Corporate PR, Waitrose
Telephone: 01344 82 5165

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Simon Rigby
Jos Bieneman
Telephone: 020 7638 9571

Go to list of press releases 2016