I have found that John Lewis usually make reliable home appliances but have had some issues with this toaster and it is only just over a year old.

It's a fairly middle range 2 slot toaster retailing at £34.95 and is on the whole cheaper than most 'brand' toasters. It is made of brushed stainless steel and is rectangular in shape with slightly rounded edges and the slots are on top of the toaster like most others. On the side in black plastic are the lever for operating it as a temperature dial and different settings for different bread types. The design is by and large classic for a toaster and given how ugly some others can be is relatively stylish. It's mains operated and the plug and lead it comes with are decent in length (probably around 60cm) although I personally could have done with it being a bit longer.
In terms of functioning, the slots themselves are wide meaning most things fit in. Gone are the days of crumpets stuck in the grill bit as they fit easily with room to spare here. As does thickly cut bread. I have found the temperature dial easy to use and does actually vary the speed and amount at which things toast. The settings buttons are superfluous in my opinion and although I have tried them I find they seem to do very little in the way of actually making a difference. More of a gimmick for me and therefore unnecessary.

Toasting time is about average and coverage, in the beginning, was even. The issue I have had of late is that about half the time it is now only toasting one side of the bread, leaving the other totally untouched. Other times it works fine. It's disappointing to have this fault after only owning it for just over a year. I would have expected it to last longer before finding these problems. That said, it does come with a 2 year warranty so we can return it, but it's a nuisance.

The toaster comes with a crumb tray so cleaning is relatively easy and the tray is easy to use - it slides out easily so you don't spill the crumbs everywhere while trying to get it out.

Unfortunately, there is no material to prevent the toaster heating up so in a similar way to a metal kettle, it can get quite hot if touched while toasting, therefore it might be best to keep it away from young children.
If we hadn't had the problem with it only toasting one side (I've checked and it doesn't have a 'one side' function so we couldn't have switched it on accidentally) I would likely have given this higher marks but as such it falls down. Perhaps it's an issue with this batch as I have found John Lewis usually produce excellent quality items but as it is, I can't recommend.