John Lewis scraps CEO role under new chair
John Lewis is axing its CEO role as the new chairman Jason Tarry reshuffles the British department store's leadership team.
Nish Kankiwala (pictured) was named as the retailer's first-ever chief executive in March 2023 under former chairman Dame Sharon White's direction.
Tarry, who was appointed as chairman in April, will take over Kankiwala's executive leadership responsibilities as the ousted CEO will become a non-executive adviser to the board by March 2025.
John Lewis said in a statement that the reshuffle reflected the "significant progression of the transformation, particularly over the last two years".
Kankiwala had signed up to the CEO role under a two-year contract.
"Given the work on the operating model for the business, the role of CEO will not be directly replaced and Jason will chair the Executive Team as well as the Partnership Board," said John Lewis.
The leadership shakeup follows a bounce back for the struggling retailer.
In September, the British retail group said its recovery plan was a success and is expected to deliver "significantly higher" profits for the year.
The owner of the namesake department store chain and Waitrose supermarkets reported losses narrowed by 91% from £57m to £5m in 2024.
“We created the CEO role at the beginning of 2023 because of the scale of the transformation and intense level of commercial focus needed in such unprecedented market circumstances," said Rita Clifton, Deputy Chairman and Chair of the Nomination Committee, about Kankiwala's appointment.
"With his exceptional transformational experience and track record in consumer businesses, we asked Nish to move across from his non-executive director role to take on this new role of CEO for a concentrated period.
"We are deeply grateful that he agreed, and for all that he has delivered for the partnership in this particular phase of our transformation."
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