John Lewis is ramping up its support for UK manufacturing with a plan to boost significantly the amount of home-produced goods it sells.
Sales of UK-sourced products within the retailer's stores totalled £480m last year, an increase of 9% on 2011. Now, it wants to grow its UK-made merchandise by a further 15% over the next two years.

John Lewis currently has 207 UK suppliers, up from 132 last year, and 10,500 products now feature the company's Made in UK identifier. The small union flag symbol is designed to highlight home-sourced products for the shopper and to promote UK design and quality.

Meanwhile, John Lewis says it has received "an overwhelming response" to a recruitment drive for its new John Lewis At Home store in Ashford, Kent. Over 1,000 applications have been made for just 125 jobs - that's eight applicants for every position on offer at the multi-million-pound outlet.

John Lewis's tenth At Home shop is due to open before the end of the year.

Glynis Gunning-Stevenson, branch manager at Ashford and who has been a John Lewis Partner for over 11 years, said: "It's fantastic to be offering a significant number of new jobs to people in the Kent area. We're looking for a mixture of Partners from diverse backgrounds who all understand the importance of delivering outstanding customer service and have the enthusiasm, energy and flexibility to embrace our co-owned business model."