The John Lewis Partnership has revealed it has appointed a private firm to carry out its maintenance work from now on, affecting 463 jobs – including those in Norwich.

The John Lewis Partnership announced today that CBRE has been subcontracted to carry out the partnership's maintenance work across John Lewis and Waitrose stores, as well as in its head office and distribution sites.

Of the 463 maintenance staff it currently employs, 365 will see their contracts transferred to CBRE.

A further 90 will carry on in their current contracts with John Lewis directly.

A total of 10 jobs are being considered for redundancy.

However a spokesman for John Lewis made it clear that this would be discussed during a consultation period in February.

The staff were made aware of the changes yesterday, when they were all called to a meeting in Milton Keynes.

A spokesman for the John Lewis Partnership could not confirm whether or not employees would have to move in their contracts with CBRE, and said that although the new company will 'restructure' how locations are managed, this may not mean employees have to move.