John Lewis Partnership Plc has appointed a chief executive officer for the first time as the UK department store boosts its efforts to turn around the business.
(Bloomberg) — John Lewis Partnership Plc has appointed a chief executive officer for the first time as the UK department store boosts its efforts to turn around the business.
Nish Kankiwala, a non-executive director at John Lewis, will start as CEO on March 27. He was previously CEO at bread-maker Hovis Ltd. and held a senior role at Burger King Corp., spearheading both companies’ turnaround efforts. He also spent a decade at PepsiCo Inc. where he was president of its drinks business in Europe and Africa.
John Lewis said Chairman Sharon White would focus on preserving the partnership model whereby John Lewis’s roughly 80,000 employees co-own the business, as well as allowing White to concentrate on strategy and “big commercial choices.”
The company highlighted that Kankiwala brings “a wealth of experience in consumer goods and retail.” White was appointed in 2020 from the telecommunications regulator Ofcom and hadn’t previously worked in retail.
John Lewis is due to report full-year earnings on Thursday with a focus on whether the company pays its employees a bonus after skipping the payment in 2021 for the first time in more than 70 years. It paid a 3% bonus last year.
Under White’s leadership John Lewis has been shutting stores and cutting costs. Its upmarket grocer Waitrose has seen sales slide as shoppers turn to cheaper discount rivals due to the higher cost of living.
Last month, Pippa Wicks, executive director at John Lewis, left her post abruptly after three years in the role. She has been replaced on an interim basis by Naomi Simcock, formerly retail director.
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