Lewis joined his father's drapery business and noticed that his own income, his father's and his brother's together exceeded the total wage bill of the staff. He concluded the arrangement could not be justified.
Against his father's opposition he began sharing profits, and in a series of settlements in 1929 and 1950 transferred ownership of the business into a trust held for the benefit of its employees, who became partners.
Partners share in the profits through an annual bonus, elect representatives to councils that can question management, and the business is run for their long-term benefit rather than for external shareholders.
It is the largest and longest-running example of employee ownership in Britain, and it has survived nearly a century, several recessions and the collapse of much of the department store sector around it.
Not a share scheme bolted onto a conventional company — actual ownership with actual governance. The distinction matters: token schemes produce token engagement.
Values statements do not survive a change of management. A trust deed does. If you want something to outlast you, build it into the ownership rather than the culture.
The partnership publishes internal information to its partners on a scale most private companies would find alarming. You cannot ask people to behave like owners while telling them what you tell employees.
The partnership has faced serious difficulties — the bonus has been cut and in some years not paid, stores have closed and jobs have gone. Employee ownership does not exempt a business from a declining sector or from competition.
It is also slower. Consultation and consensus have real costs in a market moving quickly, and critics argue that is part of why the response to online retail was late.
