The partnership announced over the weekend that about 10,000 new flats and houses would be built mostly on sites housing John Lewis department stores, Waitrose supermarkets and distribution centres, beginning in southeast England.

Nina Bhatia, executive director at John Lewis, said the plan would “provide a stable, long term income for the partnership”.

She added that the group wanted to address a national housing shortage in the UK.

John Lewis, which had already been struggling before the coronavirus outbreak, saw its fortunes worsen as the pandemic pushed consumers to increasingly shop online.

That resulted in John Lewis permanently shutting some of its department stores that had temporarily closed during UK lockdowns.

It was not immediately clear whether the new homes would be built alongside or within existing properties filled with clothes, household goods and food.

Despite its recent troubles, John Lewis Partnership has managed to survive in comparison to British peer Debenhams which collapsed at the end of last year, costing thousands of jobs.