John Lewis boss Nish Kankiwala has urged the winner of the next general election to deliver a stable environment for economic growth that will allow consumers to spend with confidence.
The retailer’s chief executive told Sky News that the recent political and economic turbulence had damaged confidence among shoppers.
“There’s no doubt that the last few years have been tough for families, with inflation, paying the electricity bill, mortgage rates have gone up.
“Now, we have enjoyed a growth in our customers despite that environment,” he said.
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“My ask from a broader perspective is that we have stability. That makes such a big difference to customers buying big ticket items, or even the day-to-day. That would be my request.
“I think encouraging growth is important for our economy, along with stability so customers can make those decisions in an environment where they trust the next year is going to be similar to this year, and I don’t think we have had that in years just recently past,” Kankiwala concluded.
His comments come as the partnership revealed it had returned to profitability for the first time in four years on Thursday.
The John Lewis and Waitrose owner posted a pre-tax profit of £56m in the year to 27 January, up from a loss of £234m the year before.
Partnership bosses said the business was now focusing on prioritising and investing in its retail businesses after it announced it had scrapped its target of making 40% of its profits from non-retail activities by 2030 under its ‘refreshed’ turnaround plan.
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