GMB abruptly paused for ‘breaking news’ announcement about major high street retailer

came to an abrupt halt as made a “breaking news” announcement. Thursday’s (March 13) instalment of the programme was fronted by and , while Ranvir joined them in the studio to share the rest of the day’s news. Halfway through her report, Ranvir was forced to switch things up as she received some urgent news about retail store .

She told viewers: “Some positive breaking news for the retailer John Lewis which includes the Waitrose supermarket chain. They’ve revealed that profits last year went up by 73 per cent to 97 million pounds.” However, Ranvir revealed that staff will not receive a bonus for a third year running.

She added: “It’s said the partnership said it wants to invest into its business and workers’ basic pay instead.”

This is likely a huge blow for workers, who are known as partners because they jointly own the business, as it was hoped the results would include an annual bonus.

However, as Ranvir explained, the company is instead focusing on upgrading its stores and improving weekly pay for its staff, having announced a 7.4% pay rise last week to a minimum of £12.40 an hour.

The group said: “As employee-owners, we have a shared responsibility to ensure the partnership is sustainable over the long term. We’ve consistently said that at this point in our transformation, this is best served by investing in our retail businesses and in partners’ base pay.”

Jason Tarry, the chair of the John Lewis Partnership, told the 73,000 partners: “These are solid results, which show that our customers are responding well to our investments in quality products, value and service. We have made good progress with much more still to do.

“Looking forward, I see significant opportunity for growth from both our Waitrose and John Lewis brands. Our focus will be on enhancing what makes these brands truly special for our customers. This will involve considerable catch-up investment in our stores and supply chain.”