WAITROSE: PARTNERS IN SUCCESS T
urning to the present day, Damien accepted that the basic John Lewis principles are
more difficult to sustain with the continual pressure on lower prices affecting profits generated by the organisation. Nevertheless, the Partners are still happy to continue to work under the partnership principles. However, Damien admitted that the organisation‟s emphasis on quality, atmosphere and service comes at a price, and profits are slightly lower than - say - the German company, Lidl. However the more stringent economic times of today has led the organisation to decide to attempt to match the UK supermarkets by, for example, matching Tesco‟s on a range of branded goods price for price
A A
nother principle the organisation has now adopted is to ensure that, wherever
possible, it sells British goods rather than imported goods – so for example, Waitrose currently takes 78% of its goods from the UK – the highest proportion of any major super store in the UK. This has gone hand in hand with an increasing share of the UK grocery market rising to 4.3% of all UK retailing (Tesco‟s currently has 25.10%).
n additional new principle recently adopted by the organisation is to emphasise its
social responsibility, both to the wider community and to the local community. This can be seen in a number of examples: by constantly trying to reduce the firm‟s carbon footprint; by involving the views not just of management, but of staff and customers when introducing new packaging; by reducing the firms dependence on fossil fuels, through the avoidance of keeping half-empty lorries, which is seen in its 10% reduction in the use of diesel, by the encouragement of the use by customers for „bags for life‟, by the duty of each partner to seek to become involved with the local community in which the store is located. Finally, the ideal of social responsibility extends beyond the UK, with all Waitrose‟s foreign contacts for food being in the Fair Trade scheme.
D
amien also said that the emphasis on quality is another „must‟ for the
organisation, so for example in Waitrose the
percentage of Class 1 vegetables is now 97% (up from 23% just a short while ago). Damien also felt that Waitrose‟s excellent relationships with local Environmental Health Officers had encouraged improvements in the organisation‟s efficiency in presentation of fresh produce. For example traceability of key foodstuffs such as meat is crucial and Damien said that Waitrose has the strongest traceability links of any company in the UK grocery trade, for example in the example of the traceability of bananas, Waitrose has only one buyer. Customers are not excluded from this search for quality, with each section of Waitrose having its own in-store expert to aid customer choice, for example for wines and spirits , for vegetables, and for meat.
F
inally, Damien emphasised that Waitrose – in connecting with the local community –
has a strong emphasis on charitable giving which was agreed by the organisation ten years ago and is based on local customers‟ suggestions on which local charities to support – this is now found in every Waitrose store through the green button scheme where the customer decides into which named local charity‟s open container she or he will place her/his button, and the number of buttons determines the money donated by Waitrose to each local charity.
A
t the end of Damien‟s excellent presentation, Hornchurch & Upminster
Rotarians responded with great enthusiasm for the clear picture Damien had painted of the principles and practice behind the John Lewis Partnership and its new-ish sibling, Waitrose.
Story by Dick Palmer Photos by George Larkey
41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68