Sharon White won the vote of confidence in her leadership of the John Lewis Partnership, which runs the department store and grocer Waitrose, but remains under pressure with employees, known as partners, voting against her performance over the last year. Ms White had faced controversy after reports she was considering selling a stake in the 70-year-old partnership to an outside investor in an attempt to raise £2bn. She has now pledged the group would always remain employee-owned. In March the group announced it would cancel staff bonuses for the second time in three years and warned of fresh job cuts after what it described as “a very tough year” where “inflation hit us like a hurricane”.