The partnership, which owns the John Lewis & Partners department store business and sister retailer Waitrose & Partners, said the scheme linked to workers’ final salaries would be replaced by a defined contribution scheme.

John Lewis will match staff payments of up to 8% of salary. After three years of service, workers’ pension pots will get an additional 4% of pay from the company, whether or not they pay into the scheme themselves.

The changes, which come into effect from April next year, will impact the partnership’s nearly 84,000 workers and save the business £80m a year in pension costs.