Tesco forced to pay £10m to staff after payroll error

Bonuses at John Lewis and Waitrose have dropped to their lowest level since 1954.

Despite pre-tax profits rising by 21.2%, bonuses were reduced to six per cent of employees’ salaries - making it the lowest percentage since 1954, The Independent reports.

It is the fourth year in a row that the payment for employees, who all benefit from the partnership, has been cut. The group accounted the slash to staff bonuses to an “increasingly uncertain” market.

Chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield comments: “This allows us to maintain our level of investment in the face of what we expect to be an increasingly uncertain market this year, while absorbing the costs associated with adapting the partnership for the future.”