The History of John Lewis

The story began in 1864 when John Lewis opened a small drapers shop in Oxford Street and took 16s 4d on his first day. 21 years later his son and the founder of the John Lewis Partnership, John Spedan Lewis was born. In 1905 John Lewis bought control of Peter Jones, the control of which was to be handed to his son in 1914. With this control John Spedan Lewis established Staff Committees, the predecessors to Committees for Communication as they’re known these days.

1918 saw the first publication of The Gazette by John Spedan Lewis. He also established a staff council – today’s Partnership, Divisional and Local forums – in 1919. 1928 brought the death of John Lewis and his son gain control of both the John Lewis store and Peter Jones. John Spedan Lewis had the First Constitution published and converted the brand to a public company: John Lewis and Company Limited. One year later in 1929, the First Trust Settlement was created which legalised the John Lewis Partnership. As of this point, all profits were divisible between the partners.

Following this, the store was to take many steps towards becoming the major establishment that we know today. In 1937 The Partnership bought a chain of 10 shops: Waitrose. In 1940 The Partnership doubled through the purchase of Selfridges Provinvial Stores Group, one of which was Cole Brothers, now John Lewis Sheffield.

In 1950 the second Trust Settlement was created and John Spedan Lewis transferred all of his remaining shares and therefore ultimate control of the company to the trustees. Just five years later John Spedan Lewis retired as Chairman and Bernard Miller stepped into the role. It also saw the first Waitrose supermarket open in Streatham. John Spedan Lewis died in 1963.

1972 saw the return of the company to the bloodline when Peter Lewis, John Spedan Lewis’ nephew succeeded Bernard Miller as Chairman. He remained in the role until 1993 when Stuart Hampson took over.

The 21^st Century brought all the modern attributes that we are used to now and in 2001 johnlewis.com was launched allowing the public to shop from the comfort of their own homes. In 2006 Greenbee, a direct services company was launched. 2007 saw the retirement of Stuart Hampson as Chairman and his successor Charlie Mayfield adopt the role. In 2009 the first John Lewis at Home store was opened in Poole (Dorset) and the Partnership Services was launched to meet Partner needs. In 2011 The Partnership headed south and opened Waitrose stores in Jersey and Guernsey.

Now, in 2013, The Partnership are one of the UK’s top ten retailers. They have 39 John Lewis stores – 30 department stores and nine At Home stores – 291 Waitrose stores, an online and catalogue business, a direct services company (Greenbee), one production unit and a farm.

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