John Lewis Partnership has agreed to a new, five-year revolving credit facility in which the interest rate is linked to environmental ambitions.
The £420m facility replaces an existing £500m arrangement due to expire at the end of 2022 and interest paid depends upon meeting three targets over the five-year period to reduce carbon emissions and food waste, and moving away from fossil fuels.
The targets will be milestones on the partnership’s long-term path sustainability as it seeks to become Scope 1 and 2 net-zero by 2035, cut food waste at Waitrose by 50% by 2030 and terminate use of fossil fuels in its transport fleet by the same year.
John Lewis executive director of finance Bérangère Michel said: “This is an important agreement for the partnership. It is critical for businesses to align financial strategy with sustainability goals in order to address climate change.
“I am pleased that the partnership is living up to its sustainability commitments and its purpose by making this very important step, ahead of the COP26 summit.
“This credit facility also reinforces the strong relationships we have with our banking”
The retainer has a committed credit facility with a group of banks “should additional financial resources be needed”.
The partnership is investing £800m this year as it bids for a turnaround by building its core department stores and grocery businesses, and pushing into new areas such as financial services.
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