A good performance from supermarket chain Waitrose has propped up owner John Lewis in the first half of its financial year.
John Lewis chairman Sir Stuart Hampson believes the prevailing retail trading conditions are as bad as they have been for 15 years.
Group pre-tax profits for the six months to July 30 fell three per cent to £78m, year on year, despite sales increasing by 10 per cent to £2.7bn. Sales at pre-existing John Lewis stores dropped 1.5 per cent.
But Waitrose was a beacon of light, recording a like-for-like sales rise of 4.4 per cent.
"There's been plenty of recent comment that High Street trading over the last six months has been the worst in 15 years," said Sir Stuart.
"I'd certainly agree with that, particularly the severity of the downturn for non-food retail spending."
There are 27 department stores and 167 Waitrose supermarkets in the group and all 63,000 permanent staff are partners in the business.
Waitrose benefited from Morrisons' takeover of Safeway, buying a number of Safeway stores and extending its reach beyond its traditional South East base.
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