Dame Sharon White Loses Housing Further Blow For John Lewis

The real estate boss of U.K. department store group John Lewis is to step down after five years in charge of property, putting embattled chair Dame Sharon White under yet more pressure.

Chris Harris, who was property director, is understood to have handed in his resignation last week, although he will remain at the retailer until November.

And in announcing his departure, he becomes the latest high profile exit at the under-pressure business.

In February executive director Pippa Wicks confirmed that she was to leave after less than three years in position, while chief operating officer Andrew Murphy is to depart the business this summer.

Crucially, Harris had been pivotal in the retailer’s plans to expand into private rental housing, and was the architect of a major $640 million deal with U.K. investment giant Abrdn to build 1,000 residential rental homes.

This is intended as the first step in its a,bitious target to construct 10,000 new homes over the next decade on or adjacent to its retail sites for John Lewis and sister business, upscale grocer Waitrose.

The retailer believes this could be a valuable new income stream, especially given the U.K.’s ongoing housing shortage.

He also oversaw the shuttering of 16 John Lewis stores and a 10% reduction in the footplate of the Waitrose estate as the group right-sized its business.

His resignation is a particular blow to boss White, who has come under heavy criticism during her tenure for a long-term period of losses at the retailer and for mooting a possible sale of a stake in the business, which is owned by its ‘partner’ workforce.

Last month, White scraped through a vote of confidence in her leadership, but saw a backlash as partners expressed a lack of confidence in previous decisions.

John Lewis Bonus Controversy

This followed annual losses of nearly $300 million posted in March, as the firm struggled under the weight of soaring inflation, higher labour costs and the cost-of-living squeeze, with the John Lewis conceding that it anticipated additional job losses further down the line.

Earlier this month, White pledged to return the retailer to profit before 2026, adding that staff bonuses – paid out annually and a staple of the workforce’s wages – would only be reintroduced “when affordable”.

Following three years of losses, two of which have seen no bonus payout, White’s five-year plan, which was initiated back in 2021, was still on course to “get the partnership back to sustainable profit” she insisted.

On the retailer’s recovery plan, she said that it would create “a broadly based business with brilliant retail at the core, built on excellent customer service, quality and ethics”.

A bonus has always depended on making a sufficient profit, and there was no update at present, the Partnership said.

Employee Model A Given

Speaking at the Employee Ownership Association earlier this month, she explained that the plan could still require an injection of external investment but stressed that the retailer’s famous employee model was not going to change, as she affirmed employee-ownership was “a given” for the future.

White insisted: “What makes us special is not incidental to being a partnership. It’s because we’re a partnership.”

However, she pointed to the company’s tie-up with fulfilment specialist Ocado for home delivery and said: “We have for many years found creative ways to partner with other companies using some of their capital and expertise to provide new services and enter new markets.

“The tragedy would be to walk past what needs to be done to ensure the Partnership has the fuel it needs to invest, transform and grow.”

If the Partnership is unable to finance all of the turnaround plan by itself, the board could consider external investment, she stressed.