John Lewis plans 200 job cuts as it ends services

John Lewis has put around 200 jobs at risk as it moves to end in-store gift wrapping and foreign exchange services across parts of its department store estate. The retailer said no final decision had been taken, but if the redundancy plans are approved the changes will take effect in autumn.

The proposal would close bureau de change desks in 30 stores and specialist gift wrapping in 25 stores, out of a 36-strong department store chain. That would materially shrink a service network that still includes 31 bureau de change desks listed by John Lewis Money for customers buying and collecting foreign currency in stores.

The plan lands at a time when John Lewis is trying to balance restraint with investment. The group recently opened a Gifting Emporium at its Bluewater store after nearly £10m of investment, underlining that it is not abandoning services altogether but reshaping which ones it wants to keep. The contrast points to a broader reset in department-store economics: labour-intensive extras that help differentiate a full-service retailer are being pared back, while capital is being directed toward concepts judged more likely to drive traffic and spend.

That recalibration comes after a stronger year for the John Lewis Partnership. Partnership sales rose to £13.4bn in 2025/26, while profit before tax, bonus and exceptional items increased to £134m. Operating profit margin improved slightly to 2.1%, but the group still cut 3,300 jobs over the year, showing how aggressively management has been trying to protect profitability even as trading improves.

The latest annual report also showed chairman Jason Tarry’s pay rising 2% to £1.2m. Together with the service cuts now under consultation, the numbers suggest a retailer still working through the consequences of a long restructuring: fewer legacy concessions, fewer staff tied to low-margin in-store tasks, and a sharper focus on where the department-store model can still make money.