Profits have fallen at John Lewis. So staff get paid less

Bonuses for 84,000 John Lewis staff (they're known as partners) have been cut for the fifth year in a row, because its profits have fallen again.

What it means: Every middle-class aunt's favourite homewares store, John Lewis is kind-of interesting for more than just its vaaary tasteful duvet covers. It runs differently than most other stores, as a partnership What's this? . This means that every single member of staff (they're called partners, not staff), in theory, has a say in how the store's run, and gets a share of its profits. It has branch forums, where partners can influence decisions, and then an overarching partnership council, with 80 per cent of members appointed by partners, and the rest appointed by the chairman.

But profits are falling. The chairman – he's called Sir Charlie Mayfield – said John Lewis has been affected by a "challenging" 2017. People aren't spending as much money, and the fact that the pound is now less valuable compared to other currencies is making everything more expensive.