John Lewis boss Dame Sharon White to step down

Dame Sharon White is set to step down as the boss of the John Lewis Partnership at the end of her current five-year term.

Transcript

00:00 Hello, I'm Michael Crosland, business reporter with the Yorkshire Post, and we have some breaking news this morning from John Lewis,

00:06 which has announced that its boss Dame Sharon White will step down at the end of her current five-year term.

00:13 Dame Sharon joined the business at the start of 2020 and has since led a major overhaul, which has included multiple store closures.

00:21 The former Ofcom chief will stand down as chair of the partnership when she completes her term in February of 2025.

00:30 John Lewis Partnership said that Dame Sharon had asked its board to initiate the process to appoint a successor.

00:36 The move will make her the shortest serving chair in the partnership's 100-year history, according to reports from the BBC.

00:44 Dame Sharon describes the chair role at John Lewis as a special and unique role in UK business.

00:50 This comes weeks after the retail group posted a £59m loss for the six months ending July,

00:57 and said that its five-year transformation plan, which was launched back in 2020, will take two years longer than it initially expected.

01:06 That's all we have at the minute. I'm Michael Crosland, reporting for the Yorkshire Post.