A feature in The Times (£) supplement asks ‘can this woman save John Lewis?’. “Sharon White, chairwoman of the employee-owned stores, is thinking the unthinkable: shareholders.”
The Lex column in the Financial Times (£) casts an eye over John Lewis in a piece headlined: ‘mutual would not be knowingly overvalued’. “Any external investor would have to be comfortable with big staff bonuses in good years and a form of worker democracy.”
An analysis in The Guardian asks if ending staff ownership would help John Lewis, and if the boss’s strategy is failing? “The chain’s mutual model was once hailed as a template, but now it needs cash amid hefty losses.”
An opinion column in The Guardian says that employee ownership is the heart and soul of John Lewis – “losing that would destroy it”. “Yes, its customers could buy cheaper beans or bras elsewhere. But there’s an inherent trust tied up in its ownership structure which is now under threat.”
Amazon is to cut another 9,000 jobs across its global business, mostly in its cloud services, advertising and Twitch livestreaming units, the internet retailer announced on Monday (The Guardian).
The technology group, which announced in January that it would shed more than 18,000 roles from its workforce, said going further would be “best for the company” in the long term (The Times £).
CEO Andy Jassy said the cuts were necessary to reflect the “uncertain economy in which we reside” (Telegraph).
Magnum has cut the number of ice creams sold in its multipacks despite the price staying the same for shoppers. Unilever, the owner of the brand, has shrunk the size of the packs by a quarter in the latest round of shrinkflation on supermarket shelves (Telegraph).
The Canadian pension fund that recently sold Camelot has hoisted a “for sale” sign over the operator of the Irish national lottery, even though its licence still has ten years to run (The Times £).
Starbucks’ chief executive, Howard Schultz, is ending his third stint as head of the coffee chain early as he faces growing scrutiny over the company’s labour practices (The Guardian).
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