John Lewis staff in Bristol celebrate share of £151m bonus

Staff at the Bristol branch of John Lewis celebrated a bonus of about eight weeks' salary each as the firm unveiled a bumper year's trading.

After turning around a poor start to 2009, the store's strong overall performance over the year ending January 30 means its 70,000 staff – known as partners – will now share a bonus pot of £151.3 million.

The bonus money will be paid to them alongside their salary at the end of this month.

An envelope containing the bonus figure was opened in front of Bristol staff by Patrick Newman, of Horfield.

Patrick, 69, is the head chef at the branch and retires in June after 29 years with the company.

The firm, which also owns Waitrose, has about 1,000 staff in The Mall in Bristol, who last year each had a 13 per cent bonus.

John Hayes, managing director of The Mall branch, said: "It is fantastic for our staff.

"We did about 30 per cent of our takings in the four weeks over Christmas.

"We were set a sales target of £113m for the store for 2009 – in fact we took £124.3m over the year."

Sue Prior, 29, works in the visual merchandise section, which arranges the store's shop floor displays.

Sue, who has been with John Lewis for nine years, said: "I'm delighted.

"I am spending my bonus on a three-week trip to Borneo in October to see the orangutans of the jungle."

Steve Davey, 42, of Northville, heads up the firm's outlet store in Swindon.

He said: "I am spending my bonus on my wedding.

"I am getting married to Cindy in June at Yate Registry office, followed by a party in our garden afterwards.

"It is something really nice to spend the bonus money on.

"The marriage is the second time round for both of us, and we have five sons between us, aged six, 11, 12, 16 and 20.

"I had a feeling the bonus would be around the 10 per cent mark, so we are thrilled.

"We are going on honeymoon to Cuba so I have upgraded our room and our flight with the extra bonus money."

Waitrose was the group's star performer over the past year, with sales growing 3.6 per cent.

The supermarket opened 25 new branches and invested in new shops and formats. It has shops in Westbury Park, Clifton, Portishead and Weston, whose 200 staff also received a bonus.

John Lewis chairman Charlie Mayfield said: "As the year progressed, trading conditions improved as consumer confidence returned.

"This, combined with the tremendous success of 'essential' Waitrose has made the Waitrose brand more accessible to more customers in more parts of the UK.

"Each week up to 400,000 more people are now choosing to shop at Waitrose."

The supermarket said its "everyday to gourmet" approach had proved a success with customers as its own-label essential range appealed to those wanting to save money in the face of the recession, while products such as its "indulgent desserts" also performed strongly.