John Lewis, the British retailer that apparently still has currency exchange booths, is planning to cut around 200 jobs by shuttering its in-store money exchange services and dedicated gift wrapping areas. Because nothing says 'holiday spirit' like eliminating the people who make your presents look pretty.

The company says no final decision has been made, but if the redundancy plans are approved, the axe will fall in autumn. The decision to close the bureaux de change is blamed on falling demand - apparently, people now prefer to order foreign currency online and pick it up in store, or just use credit cards and digital payments abroad like some kind of 21st-century human.

As for gift wrapping, John Lewis will move that service from a specialized area to the tills, which is definitely not going to cause a logjam of impatient shoppers and tangled ribbons. A spokesperson offered the standard corporate comfort: 'We will support affected staff throughout the consultation process and support redeployment where possible.'

The closures affect 30 shops for currency exchange and 25 for gift wrapping. This is just the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves under chair Jason Tarry, who took over in 2024 after a stretch that already saw job cuts and store closures. In February, the retailer closed its housebuilding arm, and in March - in a plot twist - it announced it would award staff a bonus for the first time in four years, because profits and sales had improved.

The bonus had been scrapped during the pandemic, marking the first time since 1953 that John Lewis didn't share the wealth. The company's latest results show a pre-tax loss of £21 million, thanks to £120 million in one-off costs from writing down old tech systems. But underlying profits rose 6% to £134 million, and sales across the business climbed 5% to £13.4 billion. Waitrose, its supermarket sibling, outperformed John Lewis department stores with 7% sales growth to £8.5 billion, versus 3% growth to £4.9 billion. So at least the sandwiches are selling.