John Lewis Partnership boss Dame Sharon White has doubled down on comments that businesses should not let social and environmental goals distract them from making profits.

The partnership’s chair faced criticism from some quarters following a speech to the Resolution Foundation think tank last month.

Sharon White

Sharon White said profit ‘is what gives business the firepower’ to tackle social and green issues

White suggested efforts to force companies to pursue a wider social purpose “go too far” and insisted companies did not have to sacrifice profit in order to make a positive contribution to society and the planet. 

Writing in The Mail on Sunday, White said: “The public is demanding more of business – they want business to be more active on social and environmental issues. 

“But there also needs to be a recognition that companies are set up to make money. Only when they have done this can those profits be invested in doing good. Making a profit is a passport to doing good.”

White acknowledged that companies in every sector were making sustainability pledges and said “the public are looking to business to walk the talk”.

But she warned that business had been “caught up in the culture wars” and re-emphasised her view that making a profit and doing good can “go hand in hand”.

She said companies were “already responding” to demands to be “more socially aware”, but insisted: “To really deliver on this agenda, companies need to turn a profit. You need to do well to do good. Profit is what gives business the firepower and resources to address the issues that are bigger than one business or even one country.”

White added: “As I said in my speech at the Resolution Foundation last week, the role of business in society has got caught up in the culture wars. Business taking on social missions has been dubbed as ‘woke capitalism’ and ‘virtue signalling’.

“Critics argue that companies should focus on maximising shareholder returns, creating wealth and growing jobs rather than getting embroiled in society’s big debates.

“Proponents – and I count myself as one of them – argue that doing good and doing well can and do go hand in hand.”

John Lewis Partnership, which operates upmarket grocer Waitrose as well as the eponymous department store business, will unveil its full-year results on Thursday.

There are hopes that the retail group can resume paying a bonus to its partners after White hit the pause button on the policy during the pandemic.

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