High street retailer John Lewis has announced a major expansion which it hopes will double sales in the next ten years.
Food retailer Waitrose, owned by the John Lewis partnership, is expected to have a "similar business development plan" in order to expand the chain and increase sales.
Ten new department stores are also planned to open in the next decade with expansion of the chain taking the number of John Lewis employees to 100,000 in 2017 from the current 65,000.
Other announcements also included the launch of the business plan BonusSave, a new share incentive plan, and the planned purchase of a fifth holiday centre.
"Our aim is to grow the number of loyal customers we have, both by adding shops and expanding our direct capabilities," said Mark Price, development director of John Lewis.
He adds: "The challenge is how we support the rapid growth of our business from our current resources base."
The new business plan also takes into account the launch of its direct services company Greenbee in October. Mr Price asserted that the partnership needed to take "a more holistic view" of customers by looking at their shopping habits across all three of its businesses.
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