The John Lewis Partnership has appointed a chief executive for the first time as chairman Sharon White battles to turn the 95-year-old retail giant around.
Nish Kankiwala, 65, the former boss of Hovis, has been promoted to the job at the company, which owns the John Lewis department store chain and Waitrose supermarkets.
The appointment comes just days after White, 55, said she has found it ‘quite hard to recruit men’ and faced a backlash for hiring and promoting women.
Top job: Nish Kankiwala (pictured) has been promoted to chief exec at the John Lewis Partnership, which owns the John Lewis department store chain and Waitrose supermarkets
Speaking at an event for International Women’s Day, she said she had received complaints for trying to ‘rebalance’ the retailer away from its masculine ‘command and control’ culture.
White is seeking to revive the fortunes of the John Lewis Partnership after two years of losses.
The company made £146million profit in 2019-20 but lost £517million in 2020-21 and £26million in 2021-22. Another loss for 2022-23 is feared when it reports annual results today.
White shut 16 loss-making stores during the pandemic but continues to face rising costs.
It has already reported losses of £99m for the six months to the end of July.
Kankiwala has been hired after a two-year stint as a non-executive director, as well as senior jobs at Burger King and Pepsi.
White will now ‘be fully accountable’ for the partnership model and its ‘big commercial choices’.
The new chief executive would ‘draw on his significant transformation experience to drive performance and profitability day to day’, she added.
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