Waitrose to create 2,000 jobs in 2015

LONDON (Reuters) - Upmarket British supermarket Waitrose, part of the employee owned John Lewis Partnership [JLP.UL], expects to create 2,000 jobs in new and extended shops, as well as in a new e-commerce grocery depot in 2015, it said on Tuesday. The firm said it is opening 14 shops across the UK from spring this year, comprising seven supermarkets and seven little Waitrose convenience shops. Waitrose has already opened two new shops this year. It is also relocating one supermarket and carrying out two major extensions to existing branches. The supermarket outperformed rivals over the key Christmas period, posting a 2.8 percent rise in same store sales over the five weeks to Jan. 3. (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)