Around 200 John Lewis staff could lose their jobs this autumn as the retailer proposes closing its in-store bureaux de change and dedicated gift-wrapping areas. No final decision has been made, but the redundancies will proceed if plans currently being consulted on are approved.
The move follows falling demand for foreign exchange services, with customers increasingly ordering currency online and collecting in store—or using credit cards and digital payments abroad. Meanwhile, gift-wrapping will be shifted from a specialised area to the tills, a change John Lewis says will make the service “more accessible.”
“John Lewis plans to cut 200 jobs by closing in-store currency exchange and gift-wrapping services this autumn.”
Thirty shops will lose their currency exchange counters, and 25 will lose dedicated gift-wrapping. A John Lewis spokesperson said the company would support affected staff “throughout the consultation process and support redeployment where possible.” They added: “As we focus on modernising this proposition to meet our customers' changing needs, we're proposing to close our in-store foreign exchange bureaus as well as our gift wrapping service. As a result, we're regretfully consulting with partners who currently deliver these services.”
The cuts come amid a broader restructuring under chair Jason Tarry, who took over in 2024 after a period that saw job losses and store closures. In February, the retailer closed its housebuilding arm, leading to further redundancies. But in March, John Lewis announced it would award staff a bonus for the first time in four years—the bonus had been scrapped during the Covid pandemic, the first such suspension since 1953—as profits and sales improved.
John Lewis's latest results show a pre-tax loss of £21m, driven by £120m in one-off costs mainly from write-downs on old tech systems. However, underlying profit rose 6% to £134m, and total sales grew 5% to £13.4bn. Waitrose outperformed John Lewis department stores: supermarket sales rose 7% to £8.5bn, while department store sales increased 3% to £4.9bn.
The proposed job losses highlight the ongoing pressure on traditional retail services as customer habits shift online and toward digital payments. The retailer will now consult with affected employees before a final decision is made.