John Lewis Partnership posts profits and wage bumps, but grips on costs persist after build-to-rent pull and new UK rules bite. A quick bio: employee-owned PLC running John Lewis & Waitrose.
Whitbread has announced a five-year plan that includes cutting about 3,800 UK and Ireland roles and closing the remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants as part of a shift to a pure‑hotel model, funded by selling £1.5bn of freehold properties. The group is pursuing cost savings amid tax rises and activist investor pressure, with redeployment offered where possible.