RETAIL giant John Lewis Partnership is to pay its lowest bonus since 1953 and axe three Waitrose stores.

The group revealed a 23 per cent drop in profits and said it would cut its annual staff bonus for the seventh year running, to two per cent of annual salary.

Profits stood at £123m for the year to January 25.

Waitrose stores at Waterlooville near Portsmouth, Four Oaks in the West Midlands and Helensburgh in Scotland will close later this year.

New chairwoman Dame Sharon Wight, who took the helm last month, outlined a plan to return the group to profit growth, including “right sizing” its network of shops and slimming down its head office.

John Lewis has a John Lewis at Home branch in Branksome as well as a large Southampton store.

Waitrose has branches in Parkstone, Winton, Wimborne, Christchurch, Ringwood and Lymington.

Dame Sharon said: “We need to reverse our profit decline and return to growth so that we can invest more in our customers and in our partners.

“This will require a transformation in how we operate as a partnership and could take three to five years to show results.

“We are stepping into a vital new phase for the partnership and I have no doubt we will come through it stronger.”