John Lewis as you knew it is already dead Reeling from a massive pandemic-induced loss, boss Sharon White is throwing everything at the company’s survival 11 March 2021 • 12:59pm This article is from The Telegraph’s City Intelligence newsletter. Sign up here for incisive analysis of the day's biggest corporate story from our chief City commentator Ben Marlow. John Lewis as you know it is already dead. The pandemic has seen to that. Middle England's favourite retailer was in trouble before Covid swept through the high street but the downturn has left it facing an existential crisis. Shops are being closed, acres of store space axed, 1,500 partners who thought they had a job for life shown the door, and no staff bonus for the first time since 1953. Even the sacred "Never Knowingly Undersold" price pledge is under threat. Boss Sharon White has warned that it could take five years to recover.