The department store and Waitrose supermarket group, which recently announced a bumper bonus for staff after being one of the high street’s best performers over the past two years, is to forge a link with equestrian sports under the British Olympic Association’s (BOA) FTSE-BOA Partnership Programme.

 

The agreement, to be formally announced tomorrow, comes just days after confirmation of the pairing of Waitrose’s rival Sainsbury’s with table tennis under the same BOA scheme.

 

Information technology is expected to be the initial focus of the John Lewis/equestrianism tie-up. It is hoped that the retailer will be able to help consolidate a number of databases the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) is currently developing, including the National Equine database.

 

Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said he was “struck by the medal-winning success of the BEF”.

 

Equestrianism is one of Britain’s top five Olympic and Paralympic sports. British riders secured a particularly impressive medals haul at the last summer Olympics in Athens four years ago, with Leslie Law taking the individual eventing gold medal.

 

Andrew Finding, BEF chief executive, said John Lewis was “powered by its people who are viewed as partners and owners of their business.

 

This strongly reflects our own organisation and equestrian sport as a whole.”

 

Retailers are proving a good source of support for the BOA programme, whose idea is to pair up sports governing bodies with big companies in an effort to accelerate their development.

 

Among agreements announced so far, Marks & Spencer has joined forces with Modern Penthatlon, while Home Retail Group has paired up with badminton.

 

Instead of getting blue chip companies to write out big cheques as under traditional sponsorship deals, the sports get a chance to tap into the management expertise of a top multinational.

 

No money changes hands.

 

With this week’s announcements, 18 of the 33 national governing bodies have found partners. The full list is as follows: Accenture – sailing, Alliance & Leicester – swimming, British Airways – SnowsportGB, British Gas – hockey, Corus – triathlon, Experian – ice skating, GlaxoSmithKline – boxing, Group 4 Securicor – judo, Home Retail Group – badminton, John Lewis – equestrianism, Land Securities – volleyball, Marks & Spencer – Modern Pentathlon, O2 – taekwondo, SAB Miller – fencing, Sainsbury’s – table tennis, Skandia – biathlon, Standard Life Investments – archery, Wolseley – gymnastics.