John Lewis CEO to step back from role as chairman takes on duties

7th Oct 2024 13:36

(Sharecast News) - John Lewis Partnership chief executive Nish Kankiwala is stepping back from his role next spring, as the retail company announced it was axing the role and passing on more duties to chair Jason Tarry.

Tarry will take on a larger role, including managing day-to-day affairs at the company, which runs John Lewis department store chain and the Waitrose grocery arm. Kankiwala will go back to his role as a non-executive director.

Kankiwala became chief executive in March last year after then-chair Sharon White created the role. She left in September after criticism over store closures, a venture into property and the axing of staff annual bonuses.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown said: ''The appointment of Nish Kankiwala was part of an emergency plan designed to inject more energy into the pursuit of profits at John Lewis. Now the turnaround plan has put the partnership on a more even keel, the chairman's captaincy role is coming to the fore again."

"Tarry, will be solely responsible for steering the John Lewis ship forward, without the complication of another layer of leadership. The brief CEO position was indicative of the 'special measures' which had to be put in place at John Lewis, given the organisation was haemorrhaging cash."

"As red warning lights have stopped flashing, the partnership has found itself back in the green. It recorded pre-tax profit of £42m for the year to March and is on track for profits to be significantly higher for this year."

"The abolition of the position of CEO also bolsters the partnership model concept at John Lewis. So, it's back to business as usual, after the shock of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, with the price pledge 'Never Knowingly Undersold' also making a comeback last month.''

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com