Waitrose is the food division of the John Lewis Partnership. With annual sales of over £2bn and 136 stores by the end of 2000, we are a major and unique force in the food retail industry. We are a commercial organisation in business to make a profit. But it is how we make that profit and how we use it that makes us so different. Every permanent employee is a Partner, taking a share of the profits (which has varied between 8 and 22 percent of annual salary in recent years) and having a big say in how the business is run. Everyone, including senior management, is accountable and all opinions and suggestions are taken seriously. This unique approach enables us to maintain a level of team work and communication across our business that is unrivalled.

All our Waitrose branches are supplied by two highly sophisticated distribution centres. Every store offers a balanced and extensive range of own label and branded goods. The emphasis is always on quality. Quite simply, we concentrate on providing consistently good value for money. By doing things our own way, we are free to follow innovative strategies. We are constantly sourcing and developing new products and, thanks to our international buying network, we are often the first to introduce new lines to the market.

Our close links with John Lewis Department Stores have enabled us to add some of the department store ranges to our own selection in a venture called Waitrose Food and Home. It is just another example of how we build on the strengths of the Partnership.

Latest Innovation
Waitrose and LM Solutions (LMS) were recently very pleased to announce the formation of a new exciting e-commerce joint venture. Waitrose and LMS will work together to offer customers an alternative means to access the full Waitrose product range in a new home delivery venture. LMS is an e-grocery business that was founded in January this year by three ex Goldman Sachs bankers.

Waitrose is now moving firmly into the era of "e-tailing". In September 1999, Waitrose announced the launch of Waitrose.com, a free Internet access service. The Waitrose web site automatically links callers to three existing mail order services, Waitrose Wine Direct, Flowers Direct, Beer Direct and one Internet only service, Organics Direct.

Waitrose already has a successful project, Waitrose@work, currently operating through the in-house "intranets" of 45 large companies, which allows their staff to order goods by email to be delivered to their place of work. Another 30 sites are in the pipeline and it is rolling out at the rate of 5 businesses a month, rapidly cornering the market as it goes.

Annual Turnover

Investment in Training and Education
Quality of the Graduate Training Scheme

In 1999, Waitrose became the first private sector company to be given delegated authority by the City and Guilds Institute to award Licentiateships (LCGIs) to newly appointed Department Managers who have completed its Graduate Training Scheme.

The Licentiateship is part of the City and Guilds Institute's Senior Awards Scheme. It recognises the professional and managerial achievements of candidates and the level of competence required to qualify is similar to that expected of an NVQ level 4 holder.

After receiving their LGCIs, Waitrose Department Managers have the opportunity to work towards a Graduateship (GCGI), which is equivalent to a first degree or NVQ level 5, by completing project over the ensuing 12 months.

Emily Greenwood, Department Manager Customer Services at Waitrose Ruislip, was pleased to receive her LGCI award. "We all spent a long time looking at Graduate Training Schemes before we chose this one and it's nice to see the quality of Waitrose's training recognised".

Post Graduate Qualification
Once appointed as a Department Manager, we offer the opportunity to study for a postgraduate qualification in Retail Management from the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD). This qualification is the equivalent to one third of an MBA and constitutes an important part of a Department Manager's development towards Branch Manager.

Waitrose in the Community
The John Lewis Partnership believes in good citizenship. Its rules require its members not just to obey the letter of the law, but to observe the spirit as well. This concern for the wider community is reflected in the way that the Partnership plans all its new business activities. The design of new buildings is a very important matter to communities in which the Partnership operates. The objective is always to enhance the environment and to ensure that what is built meets the wishes of local people. The awareness of a larger social responsibility is reflected in its support for programmes like the Focus on Food Campaign, launched by the Royal Society of Arts to increase awareness among parents, schools and children of the importance of good nutrition in the early stages of life. That same concern is also reflected in the Partnership's charitable giving - £1.5m was donated in 1999 to a range of different causes - educational, cultural and social.

Supplier Relationships
As a service provider, we recognise the importance of building long term relationships with our suppliers. It is our company policy to treat suppliers fairly and ensure their accounts are paid promptly. In return, we expect these suppliers and their subcontractors to meet certain standards in terms of working conditions and providing an acceptable level of reward for their employees. We also work closely with them to source environmentally friendly products and seek to minimise the amount of packaging used and recycle waste materials whenever possible.

Partners
The personal touch that endears the John Lewis Partnership to its customers also underpins the way it treats all 50,000 of its employees. Every, "Partner" is seen as an individual with a valid contribution to make. As well as sharing profits, Partners also share information and have the right to question anything they do not understand and to receive honest answers. Not only are managers fully accountable to their teams, but various committees and councils provide a direct link between the Chairman and all Partners. Elected representatives meet regularly to discuss branch issues as well as the business as a whole, and all Partners are encouraged to put forward suggestions for driving the business forward, with good ideas being rewarded with generous bonuses.

Benefits
The Partnership has always acted on the principle that there should be more to a job than work and pay, so those who work in the Partnership enjoy a high degree of support as they face life's tougher challenges - ill health, sudden financial hardship and retirement. Those Partners who complete twenty-five years' service can take long leave, a period of paid leave of up to six months. All Partners also have access to a very wide range of amenities for sport and leisure, including four country clubs and various sporting and artistic societies.

Environmental Policy
Waitrose seeks to manage all of its activities to the benefit of its customers, Partners and society, to comply with all relevant laws and regulations and to ensure that our impact on the environment is reduced to the minimum practical. Waitrose has an environment management system for which the Director of Development and Services and General Manager, Services are responsible. Environmental policy is generated at this level and recommendations taken to the Waitrose Managing Committee (Waitrose's principle decision making body) for ratification and inclusion in Waitrose procedures. In 1988, Waitrose set up its Environmental Working Group, which is responsible for overseeing environmental issues across the whole business. Each section of the Waitrose business is represented on the group

Awards and achievements
Our aim is not just to provide the highest possible quality at competitive prices, but also to make food and wine shopping a more interesting, diverse and enjoyable experience. By combining all the benefits of a specialist food shop and wine merchant with the convenience of a modern supermarket, Waitrose has beaten off fierce competition to win the following prestigious awards in the past twelve months:

Organic Supermarket of the Year (as voted by You! Magazine)

Supermarket Wine Retailer of the Year (at the International Wine Challenge)

Supermarket of the Year (as voted by Which? Magazine)

IWSC European Supermarket of the Year

Areas of Operation
South of England, Midlands and East Anglia

Web site: www.Waitrose.com

Email Address: Careers@waitrose.co.uk