John Lewis Partnership chair to step down
The John Lewis Partnership has announced that its chair is to leave the business in early 2025.
In a statement, the employee-owned company, which operates the John Lewis department store and Waitrose supermarket, said Dame Sharon White had asked its board to initiate a process to appoint her successor. She has also asked for a review of the chair’s accountabilities to ensure that they continue to support the transformation of the business.
White’s five-year term will come to an end in February 2025, which means she will be the shortest-serving chair in the history of the partnership. The news comes just a few weeks after the partnership announced that its turnaround plan would take two further years to deliver due to ongoing inflationary pressures.
The appointment of White’s replacement will be led by Rita Clifton, the John Lewis Partnership deputy chairman.
White said: “The chairman of the John Lewis Partnership is a special and unique role in UK 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.
“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 modernisation 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.”
