John Lewis CEO: Bailey wants you to be gloomy – and it’s working August 13, 2023 The new Chief Executive of John Lewis has given a stark warning to the Bank of England, cautioning against higher interest rates that could “tip into recession”. Nish Kankiwala was appointed as the Partnership’s first Chief Executive in March and has since been laying out his recovery plan for the struggling high street favourites John [...]
John Lewis hires Google Cloud to supercharge digital revamp in £100m deal August 9, 2023 John Lewis is trying to get back on its feet by partnering with Google to drive its digital revamp, and shift away from high-street reliance. Valued at £100m, the partnership aims to improve the efficiency of John Lewis and Waitrose employees, enabling them to provide a better customer experience. Struggling high street favourite John Lewis [...]
John Lewis revamps marketing approach as it tackles losses July 28, 2023 John Lewis has created a ‘customer planning team’ to make the most out of its marketing budget in stores and online, as it struggles with huge losses. The upmarket British retailer, famed for its annual tearjerker Christmas ad, has appointed Andreas Nicolaides to lead the new team from October. John Lewis, which owns Waitrose, said [...]
John Lewis submits £500m London planning bid for 800 homes – but questions remain about affordability June 30, 2023 John Lewis is pressing on with its shift away from the high street and into residential property by submitting initial planning applications for new ‘build to rent’ homes in the capital The hard-hit retailer submitted proposals for nearly 800 rental homes on London sites in West Ealing and Bromley, with plans for a site in [...]
Hybrid hinders London commercial space as John Lewis slashes head office value by £15.6m June 20, 2023 The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has slashed the value of its London head office by £15.6m in the latest signal that hybrid working trends continue to hinder the capital’s commercial work space. It comes as last month the retail group revealed that it was ending the lease on its head office in Victoria, London as [...]
John Lewis property chief resigns in latest top rank exit June 18, 2023 John Lewis property boss Chris Harris has resigned after a five-year stint, placing further pressure on the struggling retailer’s chair Dame Sharon White. Harris, who held the role of property director, handed in his resignation last week, according to reports in the Sunday Times, but will remain at the firm until November. He had played [...]
Sharon White: John Lewis will be profitable in three years June 8, 2023 John Lewis boss Sharon White has reportedly not ruled out tapping up outside investment to bring the struggling upmarket retailer back to profitably by 2026, however vowed that the would remain business employee owned. White told members of the Employee Owned Association – which represents UK organisations which are employee owned- that the plan to [...]
‘Blind eye’: Former John Lewis boss on CBI and Tesco scandals May 24, 2023 The former boss of John Lewis has spoken out on the scandals engulfing the CBI and Tesco suggesting that senior staff may have been “turning a blind eye” to bad behaviour. Andy Street, Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, spoke at a Q&A with InHouse where he discussed issues at the lobbying group, the Confederation [...]
Sharon White: Embattled John Lewis chair survives confidence vote – just about May 10, 2023 John Lewis chair Sharon White will remain chief of the business after winning a vote of confidence on her future leadership, but remains under considerable pressure with partners voting against her performance over the last year. White secured one victory at a John Lewis Partnership meeting held on Wednesday, with a majority of partners saying [...]
UK retail giant set to ditch central London office space amid job losses May 1, 2023 John Lewis is looking to cut its office space by over 50 per cent after the company seeks to drastically cut costs benefiting from a loose hybrid working approach. The John Lewis Partnership, which also owns Waitrose, first announced its plans to move offices last year, waiting until the lease of its current Victoria HQ [...]