John Lewis boss receives £1.2m pay rise as staff numbers fall

Jason Tarry, the boss of the John Lewis Partnership has received a 20% pay rise over the last year despite the company reducing jobs, as published in its latest annual report.

Terry joined the staff-owned John Lewis Partnership, which operates 36 John Lewis department stores and 300 Waitrose supermarkets, in September 2024 as Chairman, with a £990,000 base salary, matching that of his predecessor, Dame Sharon White.

Last April, his base salary rose to £1.2 million, with additional bonuses and benefits bringing it up to £1.26 million, matching the pay of former CEO Nish Kankiwala, who left last year following the merging of the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive.

At the same time, the JLP workforce decreased by 3,300 employees, mostly due to staff departures that were not replaced. This brought the total staffing across the group to 65,700 employees, down from 69,000 in 2024.

In 2023, the group had employed 76,400 people, bringing the total reduction of employees over the last three years to 10,700 roles.

The reduction in employees is part of a larger trend in the UK retail sector, which reported 2.81 million retail jobs in 2025, the lowest four-quarter average on record. This was 68,000 fewer than in 2024 and 383,000 fewer than in 2015, according to the latest data from the ONS.

Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium’s latest survey of retail Chief Financial Officers and Finance Directors has revealed a “sharp rise in anxiety” about labour costs over the next year.

In March, it was announced that JLP employees were set to receive a 2% annual bonus for the first time in four years on the back of stronger profitability as the high street firm progressed further with its turnaround. Jason Tarry also received the same annual bonus.

The company’s strategy under Tarry, the former Tesco UK boss, has seen it pump more investment into its stores as JLP renewed its focus on its core retail business.

This included Tarry withdrawing from JLP's build-to-rent property business, plans that had been initially launched under Dame Sharon White, in October 2020 amid challenging retail conditions.

The firm is currently investing £800 million across its stores as part of a long-term investment strategy.