John Lewis writes down head office by £15m 

John Lewis Partnership has reportedly written down the value of its head office in Victoria, London by £15.6m, amid a rise in hybrid working.

According to The Times, the group has also pushed ahead with the writedown due to depressed commercial property valuations in light of rising interest rates.  

The move comes after the group closed seven floors of its central London headquarters and “revised” the use of its offices in Bracknell, Berkshire, according to recent annual account filings.

Last month, it was reported that John Lewis was looking to halve its office space in an effort to cut costs through a loose hybrid working approach.

According to reports, the company is now hunting for an office of 100,000 sq ft compared to its current 220,000 sq ft space in Victoria.

The partnership also announced its plans to move offices once the lease of the current Victoria head office is due to run out. 

According to John Lewis, the move to a smaller office would “reflect the space its staff need”, as fewer are coming into the office. The retailer currently does not have a company-wide policy on the ratio of office to remote-working days. 

A spokesman for John Lewis told The Times: “We announced last year that we’re moving to a new London office that better suits our needs when our current lease ends next year. Like many businesses we don’t need as much space now we have a blended approach to working.”