Hundreds of jobs at risk in John Lewis’ gift wrapping and money exchange services

Nearly 200 John Lewis staff could lose their jobs as the retailer plans to close in-store currency exchange services and dedicated gift wrapping areas.

A final decision has not been made yet, but if the layoff plans for which he is advising are approved, the layoffs will take place in the autumn.

John Lewis said its decision to close in-store exchange offices was due to a drop in demand and that it would move its gift wrapping services from a dedicated area to tills.

A spokesman said it would support affected staff “throughout the consultation process and support redeployment where possible”.

They added: “We are proposing to close our in-store currency exchange offices and gift wrapping service as we focus on modernizing this offering to meet the changing needs of our customers.

“As a result, we are unfortunately currently advising partners who provide these services.”

The retailer said customers are increasingly ordering currency online and picking it up in store. It was also stated that some customers prefer to use credit cards or digital payments while abroad.

He added that changes to gift wrapping services will make it more accessible.

The closure of money exchange will affect 30 stores, and the closure of gift wrapping services will affect 25 stores.

The retailer is experiencing many changes under its belt. Jason Tarry takes over in 2024 after a tough few years with layoffs and several store closures

It also closed its residential construction arm in February, resulting in some job losses. In March, the retailer announced it would give its staff bonuses for the first time in four years as profits and sales increased.

The bonus was canceled during the Covid pandemic, the first time this had happened since 1953.

John Lewis’ latest results show the business reported a pre-tax loss of £21 million due to one-off costs of £120 million, mainly related to write-downs in the value of legacy technology systems.

But underlying profits rose 6% to £134 million. Sales across the business rose 5% to £13.4bn.

Sales growth was higher at Waitrose compared to John Lewis. Supermarket sales rose 7% in the year to the end of January to £8.5bn; In department stores it rose 3% to £4.9bn.