John Lewis boss on why the Christmas ad is still ‘incredibly important’

John Lewis and Waitrose have both posted positive sales during what was the worst Christmas for retailers since the financial crash in 2008 but the retailer’s owner, the John Lewis Partnership, has warned on profits as “weak consumer demand” increases pressure on the high street.
In the seven weeks to 5 January – which included John Lewis’s biggest sales week thanks to Black Friday – like-for-like sales at the department store chain grew by 1%, boosted by goo