John Lewis has issued an urgent recall for 15 door stops and draught excluders – sold for more than five years – after discovering they may be contaminated with asbestos, a banned substance that can cause lung damage and cancer. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published the notice, warning owners to “stop using them immediately” and keep them out of children’s reach. “The products present a risk to health as the marble chips sealed within the doorstops and excluders may be contaminated with a small quantity of asbestos,” the OPSS said, adding that they fail the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The items were on sale from 31 January 2021 to 11 June 2026. John Lewis, which apologised for the inconvenience, is offering full refunds at any store and advising safe disposal: undamaged products should be double-bagged, labelled and kept away from children; if damaged, owners should wear gloves and a mask, clean up with wet cloths and double-bag everything. The recall echoes a similar alert from Dunelm in May for 27 door stops sold between January 2019 and February 2026.
The recall comes as the 36-strong department store chain also puts 200 jobs at risk by proposing to close its in-store gift wrapping desks in 25 stores and bureau de change services in 30 stores. A consultation on redundancies has begun; if confirmed, closures will take place this autumn. John Lewis recently ranked second in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index, behind Nationwide, but one staff member told the Guardian that the move undermines the chain’s reputation: “They are removing the area of the shop that John Lewis claims they stand for.” They said call centre failures left shop-floor workers – already “overworked, overwhelmed with responsibilities and short staffed” – handling extra queries daily. A John Lewis spokesperson rejected the criticism, pointing to improved customer satisfaction and staff satisfaction scores year on year: “You will see from today’s UK Customer Service Institute scores – that John Lewis score moved from third to second overall – and we remain the top retailer in the UK.” Customers will still be able to order currency online for home delivery or store collection. The spokesperson added: “As we focus on modernising this proposition… we’re proposing to close our in-store foreign exchange bureaux as well as our gift wrapping service. This isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly.” In March the John Lewis Partnership said it would seek further efficiencies, including more use of electronic shelf labels and AI, raising questions about how the retailer balances its heritage of service with the pressure to cut costs.
“John Lewis recalls 15 doorstops over asbestos while 200 jobs are at risk from service desk closures.”
