The Shortest Chair: Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, to Step Down
LONDON — Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, which includes John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners in its portfolio, is stepping down and has asked the board to start the process to appoint a successor.
“The chairman of the John Lewis Partnership is a special and unique role in U.K. business. The chairman is responsible for the long-term health of the partnership’s model — commercial success twinned with a commitment to first rate customer service and action in our communities,” White said in a statement.
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“Having led the partnership through the pandemic and the worst of the cost of living crisis, it is important that there is now a smooth and orderly succession process and handover. The partnership is making progress in its modernization and transformation with improving results. There is a long road ahead and I am committed to handing on the strongest possible partnership to my successor,” she added.
White has asked the board to “review the accountabilities of the chairman’s role” to ensure they support the transformation of the business.
Deputy chairman and chairman of the nominations committee Rita Clifton will oversee the appointment process. Once a decision has been made, it will be approved by the partnership board as per the partnership’s constitution.
White was named chairman in June 2019 and started her role in February 2020. The process to appoint her had started in November 2018.
Her five-year term will come to an end in February 2025, making her the company’s shortest serving chairman.
The 2022-23 fiscal year results showed that John Lewis and Waitrose group sales were 12.25 billion pounds, a 2 percent dip from the previous year. As a whole, the group reported a 78-million-pound loss.
John Lewis sales rose by 16 million pounds on a like-for-like basis with last year, but its overall sales only rose by 0.2 percent in total.
In 2020, John Lewis closed eight of its stores, including one at Birmingham’s Grand Central center that cost 35 million pounds to build and only survived five years.
The only light at the end of the John Lewis tunnel is to be found within its fashion division, which had a senior shake-up that has helped the category buck the group’s overall troubles.
Kathleen Mitchell joined the business in 2021 as commercial director, and she was responsible for the hiring of John Lewis’ first director of design for fashion, Queralt Ferrer; Heena Mohammed as beauty lead; Claire Miles as head of own brand fashion, and Beth Pettet as head of fashion brands.
Mitchell, a L’Oréal and Accessorize alum, has helped increase fashion sales at the retailer by 13.7 percent in the fiscal year ending Jan. 28.
John Lewis launched 251 brands in the last fiscal year — with 109 taking place in fashion, 114 in home and 14 in beauty and technology.
Men’s fashion was the most successful category, with a 20 percent year-over-year increase. Womenswear sales rose 17 percent.
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