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Aug 19, 2021 · Spedan spared John Lewis from that by handing its ownership to its staff and its management to outsiders, rather than to his unimpressive son Ted.
- Sharon White
For the year to January 2019, John Lewis profits fell by 45...
- Sharon White
Britain was recovering from World War One, which ended in 1918, and the post-war economic depression greatly affected trade for all businesses. The eponymous founder of John Lewis died in 1928 aged 92 and his son, John Spedan Lewis established the John Lewis Partnership the following year.
- Olivia Adams
The original John Lewis, born in 1836, was apprenticed to a draper in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, but the hero of the story is Spedan, his son . By Valerie Grove.
- 1864
- 1885
- 1914
- 1928
- 1929
- 1937
- 1940
- 1950s
- 2014
- 2018
Experienced silk buyer John Lewis opens a drapers and haberdashery store on London’s Oxford Street. The store soon expands its offering to include household goods and clothing.
The company’s flagship store on London’s Oxford Street circa 1885. It is still found on the same (slightly larger) site today.
Following several years of poor profits in the Peter Jones store in London’s Chelsea, Lewis gives control of the store to John Spedan in 1914. John Spedan quickly realised that the staff at Peter Jones were unhappy and unmotivated so he made a number of dramatic changes to company policy.
At the age of 92, John Lewis dies, leaving the entire company in the hands of John Spedan. He applies radical changes to the business that he had already introduced successfully at Peter Jones. These included shortening employee’s working day and offering them three weeks paid holiday per year.
John Spedan Lewis founds the John Lewis Partnership, with the profits of the company distributed to all employees in the form of a bonus or company stock. 90 years later, it's still hailed as the secret to the company’s ongoing success.
The company grows from strength to strength, acquiring grocery business Waitrose in 1937, and three years later, another 16 stores across England.
Early in World War II, a bomb falls on a section of the Oxford Street store. The resulting fire completely destroys a large area of the store. The image above shows the silk rooms in the Oxford Street store in the 1930s, prior to the bombing.
John Spedan transfers his remaining shares in the company to the John Lewis Partnership, making all employees equal partners in the company’s ownership. The company prospers, branching out to sell new technology such as the television.
John Lewis celebrates its 150th birthday. The company redistributed over £200 million of profit to its 91,000+ partners, which works out at just over two month’s extra pay per partner. A special pop-up shop appears in every store across the UK, bringing all of the exclusive limited edition products together in one place. The flagship store on Oxfor...
John Lewis rebrands as 'John Lewis & Partners', as the businesses focus on what differentiates them from its competitors. It also launches its 'Find, Keep, Give' gift shop.
1914. John Lewis hands control of Peter Jones to his son John Spedan Lewis. 1918. First copy of our weekly in-house magazine – The Gazette – is published. 1919. John Spedan Lewis sets up a staff council and a charitable donation committee. 1920. Partners receive their first Partnership Bonus in the form of share promises. 1928.
His eldest son, John Spedan Lewis, began the John Lewis Partnership in 1920 after thinking up the idea during his days in charge of Peter Jones. John Spedan Lewis also thought up the idea of the Gazette, the partnership's in-house magazine, first published in 1918.
People also ask
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What happened to John Spedan Lewis?
Elder son of John Lewis, who owned the John Lewis department store, London, Spedan joined the business at 19 and in 1914 assumed control of Peter Jones in Sloane Square, London. On his father's death he formed the John Lewis Partnership and began distributing profits among its employees in 1929.
