Boss Peter Ruis said the relaunch of the brand’s sports and wellbeing product range is an “important step” in its major store investment plan.

The department store business, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership group, said its new sports and wellbeing departments will make it the first UK retailer to bring sportswear, footwear, wearable technology, recovery, AI-powered fitness and expert services together in one location.

The move will help the retailer take on major players in sportswear, such as Sports Direct, as well as technology specialists.

READ MORE: Over 600 jobs lost as UK high street chain closes more than 130 shops

The multimillion-pound investment has already transformed the sports department in its London Oxford Street site.

It will also fund similar redevelopments in Liverpool and Cheadle, as well as a new department in its Glasgow shop.

The departments will be up to around 5,000 square feet and have been designed so shoppers can move easily between apparel, footwear, technology, home fitness and recovery.

The concept will include sports brands including Nike, Brooks and Patagonia alongside wearable technology from Garmin, Oura and Whoop, recovery products from Therabody, and premium home fitness equipment from Peloton, NordicTrack and Speediance.

Shoppers will also be able to use free gait analysis and other technology to help them find the right footwear and other products.

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The investment is part of an £800 million cash injection from John Lewis into its 36 stores across the UK.

One of these can be found at Oxford’s Westgate shopping centre as the anchor store at the retail location, which reopened back in 2017 following a full-scale renovation.

Mr Ruis, managing director of John Lewis, said: “Customers increasingly shop around a goal rather than a traditional retail category.

“Whether someone’s training for their first marathon, taking up Hyrox or simply looking to live a healthier lifestyle, they want everything they need in one place.

“Our combination of leading brands, expert partners, nationwide shops and strong digital offer means we’re uniquely placed to support customers across every part of their fitness journey – from finding the right footwear and technical clothing to discovering the latest wearable technology, home fitness and recovery products.”

B&M has completed a point-of-sale rollout across more than 790 UK stores with PMC, replacing legacy till systems with new hardware and software across its estate.

The project covered one of the UK’s largest discount retail estates and was delivered with support from PMC and point-of-sale partner Flooid. The work was intended to modernise store operations and improve the in-store experience for customers and staff.

B&M had been looking to replace an older point-of-sale setup with a standardised system that could be deployed across hundreds of locations with limited disruption to trading. Given the size of the estate, the rollout had to be repeated store by store while day-to-day operations continued as normal.

According to PMC, the programme used automated hardware builds, centralised software deployment and real-time monitoring. The approach reduced the time needed at each store and removed the need for on-site engineering work during installation.

The businesses have worked together for more than seven years on managed IT services. That existing relationship helped underpin the latest project, with B&M working alongside PMC and its internal IT teams during the rollout.

Store estate

B&M said the updated system provides a more reliable and standardised platform across its store network. It also expects the change to reduce faults, improve the experience for store colleagues and speed up transactions for customers at the tills.

The deployment moved from pilot stage to full rollout in January and was completed in August, with support from PMC teams in the UK and India.

For retailers with large physical estates, point-of-sale projects remain a core part of broader store technology spending. Replacing legacy systems can affect checkout speed, uptime, staff training and the ability to make software changes centrally across large networks.

David Laithwaite, Implementation Services Manager at B&M, said: “PMC have proven experience with delivering POS solutions. Their collaboration and seamless coordination with our other service provider and B&M staff have been exemplary. The synergy in communication and a joined-up working approach across the board has significantly enhanced our operational efficiency, enabling remarkable progress with this project.”

Sheila Whitfield, Retail Service Delivery Manager at B&M, commented on the delivery timetable: “We’ve seen PMC rise to the challenge, proactively plan for the narrow time window and ramp up resources to ensure the work gets done on time.”

Checkout changes

The updated tills are intended to make checkout more efficient and reduce friction for both customers and staff. B&M also said the system should support colleague onboarding by providing a more consistent user experience in stores.

Flooid worked with PMC on the point-of-sale element of the programme. The arrangement combined software deployment, hardware installation processes and estate-wide monitoring under a single rollout plan for the retailer’s store base.

The project also reflects continued investment in physical shops at a time when retailers are under pressure to manage labour, maintain uptime and keep queues moving. In discount retail in particular, small improvements in till speed and reliability can have a noticeable effect across a large national estate.

Jake Allmond, Managed Services Director at PMC, said: “By building in operational agility and more seamless checkout experiences, B&M has improved customer and colleague experiences. The solution will not only create friction-free and faster transactions at the tills but will modernise B&M’s in-store technology landscape, allowing it to further enhance checkout capabilities in line with customer demands and evolving expectations.”

In a visit to Greencore Homes’ ‘The Canopies’ development at Milton Heights, Abingdon, Mr Glover met with Greencore CEO Jon Di-Stefano and partnerships and investment director Oliver Luard.

The visit took place on Friday, July 24 and included a tour of the former brownfield site, which is being transformed into 42 ‘better than net zero’ homes designed to deliver affordable, sustainable housing for the community.

Mr Glover said: “We need to build the homes our communities need, but we must also ensure they’re well designed, energy efficient and supported by the right infrastructure.

“It was fantastic to visit The Canopies and see how Greencore Homes is using innovative construction methods to deliver sustainable homes.

“I was impressed by the amount of roof space dedicated to solar panels, and the design of the houses and their materials designed to be, over the course of the year, zero cost energy bills.

“I look forward to meeting these new Milton Heights constituents in due course.”

Each property at The Canopies is built to EPC A-rated standards and is designed to lower energy bills, improve air quality, and qualify for green mortgages.

Homes are also designed to achieve zero net energy costs over the course of a year.

The development includes green corridors, woodland walks, and hedgerows to support wildlife, deliver on-site biodiversity net gain, and create peaceful shared spaces for residents.

Jon Di-Stefano, CEO of Greencore Homes, said: “At Greencore Homes, we are committed to engaging with local communities and helping people better understand the opportunities available to them when buying a new home.

“It was a pleasure to welcome Olly Glover MP to The Canopies and showcase how we’re delivering sustainable, energy-efficient homes that support both local housing needs and the UK’s net zero ambitions.

“The visit provided an opportunity to discuss the importance of delivering high-quality homes, as well as the range of affordable homeownership options available to local buyers.

“We hope Mr Glover found the visit insightful and look forward to continuing to work together to support the future of housing in Oxfordshire.”

The Canopies development is just over three miles from Didcot Parkway station, with direct train links to Oxford, Reading, and London Paddington.

A show home is available to visit by appointment.

The scheme offers 27 private market sale homes starting from £260,000, with additional options including shared ownership and First Home schemes.

To find out more about Greencore Homes, visit www.greencorehomes.co.uk.