Budgeting and Variances | John Lewis & Waitrose Tackle a £19m Adverse Energy Cost Variance

If you're planning a trip to Waitrose or John Lewis for some festive shopping, you might want to wear an extra layer and perhaps take a headtorch.

As the Guardian reports here, rising energy costs leave Waitrose and John Lewis facing a £19million adverse cost variance for its spending on energy.

The budgets for this year were likely created some time before the sharp rise in global energy prices, which will be the main reason why the adverse variance has arisen.

So action is being taken for the remainder of 2022 to minimise energy use, such as dimming the Waitrose aisle lights to 50% in the first two hours of morning trading.

Other retailers are reported to be taking similar actions.

For example, Currys is said to have reduced the brightness of its display televisions.

It's doubtful whether these actions alone will be enough to cover the whole of the adverse cost variance.

But, as a competitor retailer also claims, "every little counts"!