Jason Tarry, chair of the John Lewis Partnership, has warned of “tough” conditions putting a dampener on retail profits, according to the Financial Times.

“We have to adjust for an immediate future that we weren’t expecting even six months ago, let alone a couple of years ago,” Tarry said in an interview with the Partnership’s in-house magazine, seen by the FT.

“The team is heavily focused at the moment on what that means for us in terms of adjusting our plan going forward,” he added.

The government has acknowledged rising cost pressures and food inflation linked to the severe disruption to supply chains and energy markets of the Iran conflict.

A source close to the retailer told the FT that Tarry was not expected to make any major strategic shifts in response to the headwinds.

In the year to January 2026, the Partnership reported a net loss before tax of £21 million, down from the £97 million in profit before tax the year before. It attributed much of this to “exceptional charges” such as the retirement of legacy systems as it modernises its operations.

Tarry has been chair at John Lewis since September 2024 and spent six years before this as chief executive at Tesco, the nation-wide retailer where he spent the first 33 years of his career. When he joined the company, he was hailed as a hire focused on modernisation and growth.

In the past year, John Lewis and Waitrose have embarked on a store expansion programme and rolled out modernisation measures across their stores.

In December, Waitrose announced plans to adopt electronic shelf labels across all its stores by the end of 2026 and said it was also rolling out cash automation tech to streamline its back-office operations.

The supermarket affirmed its £1 billion commitment to expanding its estate in April 2026, with a new 3,000 sq. ft site on Ascot High Street and new openings across Welcome Break motorway service stations.

John Lewis has similarly announced £50 million in investment to refurbish its Cambridge, Glasgow, Leicester, Liverpool, and Reading stores and in May closed its 40-year-old Blakelands National Distribution centre to focus on automating operations in its new site Magna Park 3.

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