- Dame Sharon White leaves John Lewis.
- Turnaround plan extends by 2 years.
- Challenges during her tenure.
The emergence of new obstacles in the company’s bid to return to sustainable profitability led to Dame Sharon White’s decision not to pursue a second term.
The Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership will leave the company in 2025, shortly after the company warned of a two-year extension to its turnaround plan.
Dame Sharon White will not seek re-election when her five-year term ends in February 2025, making her tenure the shortest in the company’s history.
The partnership, comprising John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, stated, “As Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, nears the end of her five-year term, she has asked the partnership board to initiate the process of appointing her successor.
As part of the hiring process, the chairman has also asked the board to review the chairman’s role’s responsibilities to ensure they continue to support the business’s effective transformation.”
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Her imminent departure comes just weeks after the partnership revealed that its transformation plan would take two years longer than expected to complete.
Losses for the first half of the year were also disclosed at the same time.
On Monday, Dame Sharon remarked, “After guiding the partnership through the pandemic and the worst of the cost-of-living crisis, it is crucial that there be a smooth and orderly succession process and handover.
“The partnership is progressing in its modernization and transformation, with improving results.
There is a long road ahead, and I am dedicated to handing over the strongest partnership possible to my successor.”
In 2020, Dame Sharon succeeded Sir Charlie Mayfield, inheriting a company plagued by problems even before COVID struck.
She became the first chair to cancel the annual bonus for the first time since 1953.
By abandoning its employee-owned company model, the partnership lost jobs and stores due to growing expenses and lost the chance to attract fresh investment.
Even last year, partners received no bonuses.
Despite surviving a vote of confidence by the partnership council’s members, Dame Sharon bore the scars of the experience.
