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John Lewis new chair


spunko

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What does a struggling high-end retailer need? An ethnic minority female chair who has never worked in retail in her life and comes from the civil service where actions never have consequences. This isn't just utterly mindless, it's almost some form of corporate self-flagellation.

What the fuck?

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-7958613/Dame-Sharon-White-faces-mammoth-task-breathe-new-life-John-Lewis.html

 

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2 minutes ago, spunko said:

What does a struggling high-end retailer need? An ethnic minority female MD who has never worked in retail in her life and comes from the civil service where actions never have consequences. This isn't just utterly mindless, it's almost some form of corporate self-flagellation.

What the fuck?

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-7958613/Dame-Sharon-White-faces-mammoth-task-breathe-new-life-John-Lewis.html

 

Or a convenient scapegoat when yet another retailer bites the dust. Maybe some horribly white men are being subtly malicious behind the scenes.

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12 minutes ago, spunko said:

What does a struggling high-end retailer need? An ethnic minority female MD who has never worked in retail in her life and comes from the civil service where actions never have consequences. This isn't just utterly mindless, it's almost some form of corporate self-flagellation.

What the fuck?

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-7958613/Dame-Sharon-White-faces-mammoth-task-breathe-new-life-John-Lewis.html

 

Never worked in the private sector in her life.

See Whats goign to collapse next.

 

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1 hour ago, spunko said:

A slight correction, she's going to be the chairwoman not the MD. So basically just sitting there doing fuck all except arranging meetings.

Nope.

When the going good and your are winning then being the Chair is a doddle.

When the shit is hitting the fan and you are falling to bits then the chair should be driving the high level moves.

Its going to be a clusterfuck.

 

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Fortunately they're not listed so won't be in my tracker.

That's an unbelievably stupid appointment on a par with appointing Paul Flowers as Chair of the Co-op Bank.

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On 03/02/2020 at 13:43, Wheeler said:

As a public sector woman at least she will know what the typical JL customer wants.

 

Meeting held at a private members club.

Interesting that 100 job cuts and a head office merger could save £100mn......begs the question...

 

Also interesting to see the following quote.Now I realsie where M&S has it wrong.

'She also said managed needed to “improve the diversity of the partners we are hiring”, because a retailer that was “much more reflective of society” would be “a real boon” for the business.'

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2020/02/new-john-lewis-boss-sharon-white-warns-on-job-cuts-store-closures/

John Lewis Partnership’s new chair Sharon White has warned of potential store closures and job cuts as the company endures its most difficult period since the 1920s.

Speaking at a private meeting of the employee-owned company’s staff council earlier this week, held at the Odney Club in Berkshire, White reportedly said there would be “difficult decisions about stores and about jobs” this year.

She stressed that any decision made would not be taken lightly, and vowed to show “humanity” to staff affected.


READ MORE: 


The John Lewis Partnership is facing one of the most challenging periods in its 90-year history.

The Christmas results – where Waitrose like-for-like sales edged up by only 0.4 per cent while John Lewis’ sales dropped by two per cent – promoted then-chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield to warn staff that they may not receive their annual bonuses for the first time in 67 years.

Meanwhile in its half-year report published in September, the John Lewis Partnership saw underlying pre-tax loss come in at £25.9 million, compared to profits of £800,000 for the same period in 2018.

This marked the first half-year loss in the company’s history.

Last week saw the partnership publish its last ever weekly sales update as part of a wider restructuring plan – first announced in October – that will effectively merge John Lewis’ and Waitrose’s head office functions into one team, resulting in 75 job cuts and savings of around £100 million.

The restructure have seen the resignations of Waitrose managing director Rob Collins and the recent surprise resignation of John Lewis managing director Paula Nickolds, who had been slated to become the new brand executive director this month, overseeing both John Lewis and Waitrose in a newly-created role.

The partnership has stressed that its restructuring plan was not in response to cashflow issues that have sent competitors in the path of CVAs or administrations.

At the staff meeting this week, White said the partnership’s recent trading results were disappointing and not generating enough profit, adding that there was no “silver bullet” to bring the business back to profitability.

She also said managed needed to “improve the diversity of the partners we are hiring”, because a retailer that was “much more reflective of society” would be “a real boon” for the business.

Although White spent the past month touring John Lewis and Waitrose stores and warehouses, she only formally succeeded Mayfield as the new chair this week.

 

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I might be wrong but I don't think anyone goes to Waitrose to bask in the diversity of the staff. If they're all like me, quite the opposite - nothing like some posh (native) totty. :ph34r:

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1 hour ago, sancho panza said:

Meanwhile in its half-year report published in September, the John Lewis Partnership saw underlying pre-tax loss come in at £25.9 million, compared to profits of £800,000 for the same period in 2018.

I missed this first time around.

It's gone, toast.  There is no way back from that.

They may as well appoint Basil Brush as chair because this whole thing is dying on its arse.

Supermarkets are struggling but at least they're still in profit; general retailers are falling like ninepins.

Whilst she is clearly the wrong person for the job it won't be her fault that it collapses; it is already a dead man walking.

I hope they're paying her well because this is her last job.

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not bad if she can pull it for a year, i wouldnt mind a trippling of salary to doss it off for a while.

"White succeeded Mayfield during a meeting of the John Lewis Partnership Council on 4 February 2020. It was confirmed that White will be awarded an annual salary of £990,000 for her role at the John Lewis Partnership, a significant increase on her previous salary, which was £341,700 according to data released by Ofcom."

Then theres a golden handshake and pension of let go early.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_White_(businesswoman)

 

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On 03/02/2020 at 10:39, spunko said:

What does a struggling high-end retailer need? An ethnic minority female chair who has never worked in retail in her life and comes from the civil service where actions never have consequences. This isn't just utterly mindless, it's almost some form of corporate self-flagellation.

What the fuck?

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-7958613/Dame-Sharon-White-faces-mammoth-task-breathe-new-life-John-Lewis.html

 

Is it leather or material?  
 

oh, you are not talking about that kind of chair are you?  o.O

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sleepwello'nights
On 03/02/2020 at 10:43, Alex said:

Or a convenient scapegoat when yet another retailer bites the dust. Maybe some horribly white men are being subtly malicious behind the scenes.

Yep, and chosen for her desire to increase the diversity of staff. Definitely had that in mind when they decided that she was the best candidate with the most appropriate surname. 

Is the committee that appointed her the same one that made Bliar the peace envoy for the Middle East?

 

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Bobthebuilder
17 minutes ago, leonardratso said:

not bad if she can pull it for a year, i wouldnt mind a trippling of salary to doss it off for a while.

"White succeeded Mayfield during a meeting of the John Lewis Partnership Council on 4 February 2020. It was confirmed that White will be awarded an annual salary of £990,000 for her role at the John Lewis Partnership, a significant increase on her previous salary, which was £341,700 according to data released by Ofcom."

Then theres a golden handshake and pension of let go early.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_White_(businesswoman)

 

F**k me, on that kind of dosh she should be saving the world, £990,000 for what exactly?

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1 minute ago, Errol said:

John Lewis new chair is a drivelling moron, gibbering about 'diversity' and other nonsense.

She will see the company to destruction.

Maybe its like something in that old richard pryor film 'moving' where he is hired as a scapegoat for a failed project so that he gets all the blame.

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30 minutes ago, Errol said:

John Lewis new chair is a drivelling moron, gibbering about 'diversity' and other nonsense.

She will see the company to destruction.

It's going there anyway Errol.

Her wibblings about diversity are merely arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as it heads for the seabed.

She might actually turn out to be decent at the job but it matters not because they are already dead in the water.

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3 minutes ago, Frank Hovis said:

It's going there anyway Errol.

Her wibblings about diversity are merely arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as it heads for the seabed.

She might actually turn out to be decent at the job but it matters not because they are already dead in the water.

I like JL. I spend hours wandering round, deciding on what i like before going elsewhere to purchase it at a much cheaper price point. :)

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The Business needs a total overhaul but the changes conflict with the core values so the whole thing has the potential to fall to bits. Presumably they will slash capital expenditure to keep the cashflow ok. Probably will also bin the never knowingly undersold thing. That’s a money pit. Bizarrely needs another rebrand - the partners thing doesn’t work (look out there In the retail world loads of mega corporations) and especially if they are going to have upcoming  heavy job cuts. Probably a historic defined benefit scheme lurking in there in too. Then there’s the staff bonus....

On the capital structure Eg. They are not Plc. I’m not sure of the governance works again how does this fit with the ‘partner’ model. If I go into the store and ask the store person how is it as a partner do they get to vote on strategy, board remuneration, etc? 

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Bedrag Justesen
15 hours ago, Ash4781b said:

If I go into the store and ask the store person how is it as a partner do they get to vote on strategy, board remuneration, etc? 

May not be a partner.

Could be company reps employed through an agency.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Frank Hovis

John Lewis continuing to tumble:

Quote

Profits at the partnership dived by 23% last year to £123m - the third year in a row that profits have fallen - as it continued to struggle with the slowdown in consumer spending.

They're toast IMO.

The Chair was a stupid appointment but it was already dying before she came on board:
 

Quote

 

Catherine Shuttleworth, the chief executive of retail analysts Savvy, said store closures appeared inevitable.

"I think the business is going to have to be slimmed down," she told the So-Called BBC.

"It's very difficult to close some of the department stores down because they're on really long leases, but certainly I think where there are opportunities to close stores that aren't performing they will look at that."

She added that Ms White did not have much time to turn the business around.

"She's talking about changes taking three-to-five years, I don't think there are three-to-five years in retail at the minute where there isn't going to be an enormous amount of change. She hasn't got that much time on her side. John Lewis have been 'strategically reviewing' things for quite a while - we need some action."

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51750252

 

Though that is the action of a useless Chair - keep pushing the projected uptick returns into the indetermeinate future to divert the attention from the disastrous present.

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The spectacle of a dying organisation is a sight to behold.  Reminds me of the film Apocalypto where they painted themselves blue, sacrifices, etc in the dying days of their empire.  It's was the economic weather you effwits, not the PC gods!

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