Partners celebrate this year’s better-than-expected 15% bumper bonus (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Partners celebrate this year’s better-than-expected 15% bumper bonus

3:12pm Friday 12th March 2010 in

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CHEERS, whoops and unbridled excitement met the news that all of Hampshire’s thousands of John Lewis and Waitrose staff are to get a bonus equivalent to 15 per cent of their salary this year.

Staff at the firm’s giant WestQuay department store in Southampton gathered in the canteen to hear the all-important number, which, as every year, had been sent down by courier in a double envelope with strict instructions to be kept in a locked metal draw until yesterday morning.

Speculation The eagerly anticipated figure inside – the highlight of the year for workers, known as partners, had been the subject of widespread speculation but in the end surpassed most forecasts.

Equivalent to almost two months’ salary, the payout reflects the firm’s status as a shining light amidst the gloom on the high street, with profits climbing to £306m.

The bonus would be £3,000 on top of the usual salary in the March pay packet for a partner earning £20,000 a year after tax. It’s a result of the firm’s partnership structure, which sees staff get the dividends that would otherwise go to shareholders. In total 70,000 partners will share a bonus pot of £151m.

Wendy Martin, 62, a partner in the furniture department, was chosen to unveil the number to mark her 25th year of service with the group.

“It’s always a very special day. We used to have bonuses of 24 per cent and 20 per cent but I have also seen it as low as 8 per cent,” she said.

“I hope the bonus helps you fulfil some of your dreams,” said Jeremy Adams, general manager of the WestQuay store.

“Bonus has been a dirty word around the country but at John Lewis it is a genuine reward for the hard work and effort every partner puts in over the year.”