Andrew Murphy, partner and executive director of operations, John Lewis Partnership, writes an open letter to Press and Journal readers.
I joined the John Lewis Partnership in Aberdeen in 1992, having made the city my second home as a student at the university and wanting to settle here rather than flit back to Edinburgh.
Starting out in the haberdashery department, I learned and fell in love with my trade over five happy years in the George Street shop and I was proud to come back, after years away, to become the store director in 2004.
I know how important this shop is for Aberdeen; both city and shire – in symbolic as well as practical ways. I’ve not been surprised by the strength of feeling our proposed closure has prompted across the community, our customers or partners.
These reactions just underline the importance of taking time and care in reaching what is – for all of us – an incredibly difficult decision.
If I put myself in the place of local businesses, councillors, politicians and customers, I imagine it’s tempting to think that John Lewis has reached this decision based purely on the harsh realities of the last 12 months.
Clearly, Covid hasn’t helped our shops. But in truth, our Aberdeen store has seen profits decline consistently over a number of years as more and more customers have chosen to shop online.
The pandemic simply exacerbates this – pushing more people towards the convenience of our online shop.
I know how important this shop is for Aberdeen
A vast amount of research tells us that a significant proportion of this trade will not go back to being transacted in shops.
In its heyday, our Aberdeen shop was a magnet for hundreds of customers every week from rural Aberdeenshire and beyond.
Over the years the convenience of our online offer has become increasingly compelling and so, while some of those customers still make the journey into town, they do so in notably smaller numbers and much less regularly.
While our shop remains relevant for many customers, it simply isn’t enough to make us believe it is financially viable.
Everyone on the board of John Lewis is acutely aware that shop closures create a wave of painful consequences, not just for partners but for whole communities which rely on our shops in different ways.
However, without taking the proposed action to close this and seven other John Lewis stores, we would carry significant doubt in the partnership’s ability to sustain the employment of tens of thousands of partners across the country and our service to millions of customers. The stakes are very high and very real.
We know that nothing can truly replace what our shops give to the people who work there or to the communities they serve.
We feel a deep commitment to both which is why, if this proposal goes ahead, we’ll provide a £1m Community Investment Fund, to be shared amongst the eight areas impacted by our closure proposals.
We will also offer a £3,000 vocational retraining grant, over and above our usual redundancy terms, to any partner who does not secure redeployment in other areas in the John Lewis Partnership.
Above all, perhaps the most important thing to say in closing, is that this proposal is no reflection of the exceptional work of our partners in Aberdeen. I could not be prouder of – or more grateful for – the commitment and dedication they’ve shown across the last three decades.
