British department store retailer John Lewis is “quietly optimistic” about trading in the run-up to Christmas despite the prospect of tax rises in next week’s budget from the new Labour government, its boss said on Thursday.

The John Lewis department store business is part of the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership which also runs the upmarket Waitrose supermarket chain.

“You tend to get a feel for these things, and what we’ve seen is this optimism build as we’ve gone into the autumn season,” Peter Ruis, executive director for John Lewis, told reporters.

He said both John Lewis and Waitrose were both currently trading ahead of their Christmas plans.
“We have a budget every year, there’s a lot of press interest because it’s the first of this government. I don’t generally find it’s a huge thing for customers,” said Ruis.

He was speaking at a media event at John Lewis’ revamped flagship store on Oxford Street in central London.

The department store business said it would invest GBP800 million ($1.04 billion) in the John Lewis brand over four years.