Nish Kankiwala to step back as chief executive of John Lewis

RETAILER John Lewis Partnership has announced that it will be eliminating the role of chief executive, currently held by Nish Kankiwala, as part of a management reshuffle led by new chair Jason Tarry.

This move comes just weeks after Tarry took over the chairmanship from Sharon White, and reflects the company's ongoing efforts to streamline its operations and accelerate its transformation plan, reported the Guardian.

Kankiwala, who was appointed as the first-ever CEO of the firm just 18 months ago, will transition to a non-executive advisory role by March 2025, and the CEO role will not be replaced under the new leadership of Tarry.

According to the report, his original two-year contract will be honoured, but once it concludes, the CEO role will not be filled by another candidate. Instead, Tarry will lead both the executive team and the partnership board.

In a statement, the retailer explained that the decision to remove the CEO role reflects the company's progress in its transformation, particularly over the last two years.

The partnership, which owns the Waitrose supermarket chain and 34 John Lewis department stores, has faced significant challenges in recent years, including the pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

While the company returned to profitability in March 2024, it has not paid its staff an annual bonus for three out of the last four years.

Kankiwala's time as CEO was marked by a focus on navigating the partnership through a period of significant change. Before becoming CEO, Kankiwala had been a non-executive director at John Lewis, and he took on the chief executive role to provide leadership during a critical time.

Reflecting on his tenure, he expressed gratitude for the opportunity to lead the company during this transformative phase, calling it the "privilege of my life."

“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, head of John Lewis’s nominations committee.

“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.”

Tarry, who previously spent 30 years at Tesco and played a key role in that company’s turnaround, is expected to continue his review of the firm's operations. This includes evaluating the future of its department store chain, which faces challenges from shifts in shopping habits, as well as other ventures such as financial services and property investments.

These areas, including the company’s move into build-to-rent properties, have seen losses of £16 million over the past year.