People are shoplifting to order says John Lewis boss

It’s seen as a barometer of the health of the high street. So today when John Lewis posted a pre-tax loss of 59 million pounds between February and July this year, and said its recovery plan will take two years longer, it’s not a good omen.

But the losses were an improvement on the same period last year. Dame Sharon White, chair of the John Lewis Partnership, which also runs Waitrose, has recently called for a royal commission into the state of the high street, and has highlighted what she called an epidemic of shoplifting.