John Lewis on a winner with £50m bond

John Lewis Partnership said yesterday it had raised £50 million from customers and staff less than two weeks after launching its first ever retail investment bond.

The retailer, which owns Wait-rose and Britain's biggest department stores by sales, reached its target nearly a month ahead of the closing deadline.

John Lewis has raised finance through bond markets before, but the "partnership" bond is the first time that it has let its customers invest.

Its 1.5 million cardholders and 70,000 staff, or "partners" were eligible to invest between 1,000 and 10,000 in the five-year bond, which has a fixed annual return of 4.5 per cent in cash with a further 2 per cent paid in John Lewis Partnership gift vouchers.

However, investments in the bond are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, as John Lewis is not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. It is thought the group may look at launching similar bonds.

John Lewis also releases sales data today signalling ongoing tough trading on the high street, as sales across its department stores slipped 1.8 per cent including VAT to 52.2m in the week to 12 March.