Our history
Over 100 years ago our Founder, John Spedan Lewis, began an experiment into a better way of doing business by including staff in decision making on how the business would be run.
He set out the principles for how the Company should operate and produced a written Constitution to help Partners understand their rights and responsibilities as co-owners.
Spedan Lewis wanted to create a way of doing business that was both commercial, allowing it to move quickly and stay ahead in a highly-competitive industry, and democratic, giving every Partner a voice in the business they co-own. This combination, so ahead of its time, continues to make us who we are today.
A partnership with purpose
Since its beginning the John Lewis Partnership has set out to be a force for good. While that principle is alive and well within our business today, if we’re going to help address some of the biggest challenges of our time, we need to be even bolder.
Many businesses talk about Purpose but we walk with it - aiming to make sufficient profit to create a Partnership that is fairer and more sustainable for all Partners, customers, suppliers and communities we serve.
Our Purpose promise “Working in Partnership for a Happier World” is not just a slogan. It is a deeply rooted and unshakable commitment that acts as our guide, inspires all our principles and influences every decision we make.
Through it, we not only do things differently, but better. Always striving to make the world a better and happier place for everyone and everything our business touches.
John Lewis Timeline
John Lewis opened his first shop at 132 Oxford Street, in London.
John Spedan Lewis joins his father’s successful business on his 19th birthday.
John Lewis acquired a controlling share of the Chelsea department store; Peter Jones Ltd.
John Spedan Lewis takes over managerial control of Peter Jones.
First shops outside London were purchased, Jessops of Nottingham was the first. Followed by Lance and Lance of Weston-super-Mare.
Work began on the rebuilding of Peter Jones and construction of Clearings. Clearings was the Partnership’s first central service and warehouse building in Chelsea.
New Peter Jones building completed.
Jonell was introduced as an own brand for silk stockings in 1937. By the 1950s the range had expanded to include radios, bedding, fashion and kitchen items. Every item was specially selected for high standards of quality, value and design. By the mid 1950s the spelling had been standardised as Jonelle. It remained in use across a wide range of goods until the mid noughties.
15 department stores were purchased from the Selfridge Provincial group.
John Lewis Oxford Street is destroyed during the Blitz.
Herbert Parkinson, a furnishing textiles manufacturer in Darwen was acquired to weave own-brand fabrics under the Jonelle label. Herbert Parkinson now produces soft furnishings, duvets and pillows, and made to measure blinds and curtains and is a lasting symbol of the Partnership’s entrepreneurial spirit and an example of how the Partnership’s model can be applied to any type of business.
John Lewis Oxford Street is reopened after rebuilding.
The Partnership’s first computer was purchased as an innovative way to manage stock control. Computers were relatively new at this time and usually used by large companies to manage pay.
John Lewis Edinburgh opened. The Partnership’s first department store in Scotland and its first new-build.
Electronic Point of Sale (Tills) systems were installed throughout John Lewis, moving from mechanical to electronic registers with a modern appearance and a number of advanced features to handle every type of transaction.
John Lewis Brent Cross opened. The Partnership’s first department store in an out of town shopping centre.
The Golden Jubilee Trust was launched; the Partnership’s flagship volunteering programme providing Partners with the chance of a lifetime to work for a charity whilst continuing to be paid.
John Lewis Direct, the forerunner of Johnlewis.com was launched, creating an online trading platform.
The first John Lewis Christmas TV advertising campaign, Shadows, was created featuring products from our shops arranged to create a winter tableau.
John Lewis Customer Contact Centre at Hamilton near Glasgow opened.
John Lewis rebranded to John Lewis & Partners.
John Lewis’ Nursery Advice service rebranded to “All Things Baby”, with an expanded appointment structure. The service was originally launched as part of a range of virtual services in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Relaunch of the celebrated Never Knowingly Undersold slogan made possible with the assistance of AI.
Waitrose Timeline
Messrs Waite, Rose and Taylor opened their first grocery shop in Acton, West London.
Waitrose Ltd was formed by Wallace Waite and Arthur Rose.
Arthur Rose retired from the day-to-day running of Waitrose Ltd.
Waitrose Windsor was granted a warrant for supplying groceries and cleaning materials to George V.
The 10 Waitrose shops were bought by the John Lewis Partnership.
Waitrose acquired Schofield and Martin, a chain of twelve shops which doubled the size of the Partnership’s grocery business.
Waitrose experimented with self service shopping at a branch in Southend.
The first Waitrose Supermarket opened in Streatham.
Waitrose opened several experimental branches including Slough, and Brighton. Through these branches Waitrose experimented with different merchandise, including a non-food offer, hot food cabinets, different layouts, and advertising John Lewis products.
Waitrose opened a new distribution centre and Head Office at Bracknell. The new campus allowed for rapid expansion and branch stock control was now managed by computer.
Findlater Mackie Todd was a wine merchant specialising in mail order. The acquisition of this company allowed Waitrose to develop its own mail order service Waitrose Direct which launched in the same year.
First Waitrose Food and Home opens in Southend. It was the first store created with this format.
Waitrose Food Illustrated launched
Waitrose was the first supermarket in the UK to launch a Bag for Life.
Introduction of Waitrose Deliver, its first internet home shopping service.
Waitrose celebrated 100 years of trading. Over the course of a century the business had grown from a single shop to 145 branches.
Waitrose Foundation formed. Proceeds from the sales of certain products funded projects to improve the livelihood of farm workers in South Africa.
The Community Matters scheme was rolled out. Each month customers were invited to choose which charities they wished to support.
Waitrose entered a licensing agreement with Spinneys to open Waitrose branded shops in the United Arab Emirates.
Waitrose launched its Essentials range.
Click and Collect was launched and by 2012. Click and Collect accounted for 1/3 of online orders.
Launch of Waitrose Weekend
Waitrose rebrands to Waitrose & Partners.
Waitrose launched its first podcast titled Dish, hosted by Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw.
Waitrose own brand products meet the Better Chicken Commitment standards or higher.
Heritage Centre
We’re so proud of the Partnership’s history that in 2013 we opened our own archive called the Heritage Centre, alongside our online Memory Stores for John Lewis Partnership, John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners.
Partners and the public can view photos, business documents, objects such as the only surviving piece from the bombing of the John Lewis Oxford Street store during the Second World War, and back issues of the UK’s longest-standing internal magazine – the Gazette – which celebrated its centenary in 2018. A vast 30,000 piece textile collection dating back to 1799 is also on display.
The collection is regularly used today for inspiration and as a design resource for our in-house creative teams and we constantly collect records of future historic importance for our archive. If you have any records or treasures that relate to the John Lewis Partnership then please get in touch as we welcome donations.
The Heritage Centre is open to Partners and the public between 10am and 4pm on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Visitors can park in The Grove car park, Odney Lane. The centre is located at the end of Odney Lane, over the bridge in Grove Farm field (follow the path along Odney Common, entrance is through the wooden gate).
As we are a commercial resource for the Partnership we are sometimes able to offer visits or tours which have been pre-booked. If you are interested in visiting the Centre, either as an academic or as the organiser of a group it may be possible to organise a private visit by contacting the Centre directly.
[email protected]