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John Lewis CEO to step back to non-exec role next year

TheIndustry.fashion
07 October 2024

John Lewis Partnership boss Nish Kankiwala is to step back from the role of CEO following the appointment of new chairman Jason Tarry at the helm.

The employee-owned retailer, which runs the department store chain and Waitrose supermarket arm, said Kankiwala will revert to the role of non-executive director in March next year and the CEO post will be scrapped.

Tarry – a former Tesco UK boss who took over as chairman of the group from Dame Sharon White on 16 September – will lead both the board and day-to-day running of the group after a handover with Kankiwala. Kankiwala has been CEO since March 2023, when the role was created by Dame Sharon.

Kankiwala said he agreed to take on the post in March 2023 for two years as the group embarked on a major turnaround plan and to help see it through an "intense transformation".

"This was in view of such a significant time for the partnership and to help accelerate this phase of the transformation," he said.

"Since then we’ve refreshed our partnership strategy to be rooted in retail; significantly improved our cash flows to enable record investment for growth; and returned the partnership to full-year profit."

He added: "I have every confidence in Jason taking the partnership from strength to strength in the next phase of our transformation and am delighted to continue to support him and the board in an advisory capacity going forward."

Tarry said Kankiwala had been "instrumental in accelerating the transformation of the partnership".

“"t’s a pleasure to work alongside Nish and I’m grateful that he has agreed to stay on as a non-executive board adviser and his ongoing support will be invaluable," he said.

Dame Sharon officially handed over the reins last month, but remains with the group until the end of the year.

John Lewis revealed last month it had sharply narrowed half-year losses and forecast that annual profits would be "significantly" higher.

It reported pre-tax losses of £30 million for the six months to 27 July, down 49% on the £59 million reported a year earlier.

In January of this year, Peter Ruis was named as executive director of the John Lewis department store. It marked a return to the business for Ruis who had previously been brand and buying director for the store chain between 2005 and 2013.

The group last month brought back its "never knowingly undersold" price pledge in a major U-turn after ditching the commitment two years ago over concerns it was less relevant to shoppers.

A major component of the new plan is a price match with 25 of John Lewis’s main competitors, including NEXT, M&S, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Fenwick, Flannels and House of Fraser – both in-store and online. All made possible by John Lewis investing "multi-millions" in a new AI technology called Quicklizard.

The first of three new TV commercials shouting about the relaunched pledge aired on 19 September 2024, with two further ads coming as the build up to Christmas gathers pace.


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