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John Lewis Partnership plc Annual Report and Accounts 2014


PARTNERSHIP SERVICES AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE


Partnership Services and Corporate reduced net operating costs during the year and expanded the range of business services supporting the Partnership.


Financial and operational highlights – Net operating costs before pensions reduced by £12.0m (16.2%) – Overall costs increased by £9.7m due to an increase in pension costs – Delivered key pan-Partnership projects – 2014/15 will focus on stabilising new systems and service


Operating costs Partnership Services and Corporate includes the operating costs for our Corporate offices, Partnership Services, transformation programmes and certain pension operating costs. Corporate and Partnership Services net operating costs before pensions, including the costs of transformation programmes, were down year-on-year by £12.0m or 16.2%. However, overall costs increased by £9.7m to £65.3m due to the increase in pension operating costs resulting from changes in financial assumptions.


Focussing on productivity Partnership Services has grown significantly since 2009 with the division now providing business services for IT, Financial Processing, Procurement, Personnel, Partnership Health and Pensions administration. The division has made significant progress in improving the productivity of its most established operations, with financial processing of invoices almost 30% more efficient than the previous year.


Improving Partner services In the year, the division has also delivered and supported a number of key projects including the Personnel Transformation Programme (PTP). PTP included the launch of a Partnership-wide health service, the transfer in of Personnel policy and administrative tasks, as well as the launch of self service. On completion in 2014/15, PTP will provide our Partners with a consistent way of working and our line managers with more efficient processes, and will give us much deeper insight into Partner performance.


Outlook In 2014/15 Partnership Services will focus on stabilising the new systems and services it has taken on – particularly in IT and Personnel. New processes need to be bedded in to allow us to gain the full benefits of the investments we have made.


Patrick Lewis, Managing Director, Partnership Services


PARTNERSHIP HEALTH SERVICES


Our new Health Hub is the first port of call for Partners requesting health services and provides medical advice six days a week whether online or by phone. After triage, when appropriate, a consultation is booked with one of the 30 Clinical Case Managers (Occupational Health Advisers) or three Regional Managers based throughout the country.


Since 1 July 2013, the Health Hub has taken an average of 1,600 phone calls per month and there have been 6,300 new service requests (including physiotherapy). We have also provided 6,600 podiatry sessions to 3,000 Partners.


AUTOMATIC NETTING


Patrick Lewis, Managing Director, Partnership Services


With the introduction of automatic netting for payments and receipts, the Accounts Receivable team has ensured the Partnership is using efficient payment methods.


CORPORATE


Our Group Head Office function, Corporate, directs the aims and policies which we use to gauge how well we are achieving our core purpose – Principle 1 of our Constitution. Corporate teams play an important assurance role through our Group functions, democracy and journalism, as well as supporting our governing authorities and offering specialist expertise.


NUMBER OF PARTNERS


1,900 +11.8%


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