It’s hardly a surprise that someone who spent almost her entire career as a civil servant and quangocrat – sectors not known for workforce efficiency and customer service – didn’t know how to steer a major retailer through a challenging period of change. The only mystery is why anyone thought Sharon White – the first black person and woman to serve as Chairman of John Lewis, from which she has announced she is stepping down after just three years – was the right person to lead the company at this time. Did they have factors other than the best person for the job in mind, perhaps? Alex Brummer in the Mail reflects on her ill-fated tenure as it comes to an end.
The choice of elegant, accomplished economics guru Sharon White as Chairman of John Lewis always seemed slightly bizarre. Previous high street superstars – think Archie Norman at Marks & Spencer or Simon Wolfson at Next – have retail in their veins.
Dame Sharon is a high-minded Cambridge and UCL graduate who rose through the civil service to become a Second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury before heading up media regulator Ofcom.
She might well have shopped in John Lewis when she took over in 2020 – the first woman at the top in the firm’s history – but her knowledge of the company’s inner workings probably didn’t go much further.
So it is sad, but no surprise, to hear she is throwing in the towel. She told the board yesterday that, after a disastrous reign at the store chain beloved of the well-heeled middle class, she will not seek a second term and will instead step down in February 2025.
White’s decision, after a single traumatic five-year term, is certain to be seen as recognition that it was a job beyond her competence. Bringing in outside finance to a partnership structure, in which the company is owned by a trust on behalf of its employees, and moving into new areas such as property (with plans to build 10,000 rental homes) will always be seen as mistakes.
Worth reading in full.
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Proof that meritocracy is far better in life than tick box wokery!!
Western civilisation committing suicide. Idiots. Scum.
Well, when she leaves she will have pocketed almost £5 million quid, plus there are probably share options and a lovely Brucie Bonus goodbye cheque and not forgetting a pension, so for being an abject failure that’s not bad.
Senior civil servants are almost always failures, even in the Civil Service because the competent ones stand out and then get side-lined. I very much doubt she has been a success anywhere. Her promotions will have been based wholly on sex and colour.
Indeed – all sadly true, without doubt. I do know personally one civil servant, and he is extremely bright and hard working, who is not yet senior but has the brains and the work ethic to become so, if perhaps not the political will. He will most likely go to the private sector as he finds the constant chopping and changing of priorities to be immensely frustrating.
Her promotions will have been based wholly on sex and colour.
Probably not quite: She’s very likely also a ruthless opportunist and able back-stabber. There’s already a selection process for these qualities at university.
Even so, once again a diversity hire fails abysmally, wrecks her company – and is very well-rewarded for doing so.
These people need to learn that actions have consequences. Not that they will.
The whole executive board should go. They are equally incompetent.
Marks and Spencer had a low point and has turned things around so I’m hoping with an actual retailer at the helm JL might do something similar?
As a side point, I’ve noticed (but not sure if it is my bias) that companies that took a light touch with the whole Covid policing seem to be doing better. I don’t think M&S ever insisted on sanitising hands – it was always just an offer whereas at JL you had to run the gauntlet of employees ready to “sanitise” just to get in the store.
They (JL) closed quite a few stores during that time, including the one at which I’ve bought quite a few products over the years.
Birmingham was a dreadful experience and I certainly won’t miss it.
To be fair, fate dealt Dame Sharon a terrible hand. She had to cope with the pandemic, supply shortages and rising inflation.
To be truthful, it’s not fate what dealt her anything: Her former colleagues went onto a mad all-out economic destruction spree under orders of the WHO, a policy she doubtlessly supported full-heartedly, and the unholy troika of lockdowns and forced business closures, rising inflation caused by government handouts to people prohibited from working and supply shortages stemming from Sars-CoV2-policies induced trade disruption hurt business, employees and customers alike while White was handsomely paid for presiding over this. After being tasked with cleaning up the resulting mess, she very much preferred to seek a greener pasture elsewhere.
Imagine it. I’m a Premier League football manager. My team has struggled since I’ve been in charge and look likely to be relegated. So, I’ve announced my “resignation” – only thing is I won’t be leaving for another 18 months. February 2025.
Of course one thing I did learn in my previous job was how to extract the maximum for myself, so if you want me to go before that date – well here’s a contract that says you will need to pay me in full. There may even be some little bonuses too, as I sold a few players along the way. Over to you.
Excellent point.
Couldn’t the board put her on the cosmetic counter (quite appropriate really) and with a bit of luck she may leave pronto.
Blimey, what’s going down in Laurence Fox’s house? Looks like a police raid/search. There’s a vid further down of him going on about removing ULEZ cameras and encouraging others to do the same, so that probably wasn’t the wisest thing to post online. If he’s not careful he’s going to end up like that guy who got banged up for stalking, whose name I can’t remember but was very good at calling the idiots out and funny with it.
https://twitter.com/thereclaimparty/status/1709504850885533934
Alex Belfield.
Ha, yes thanks. It was bugging me.
This is the 2min clip that got him into trouble I think. Wish he was a bit more astute before throwing his free speech around and letting the entire police force know his intentions.
https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1709287007535378685
Bloody hell.
Meanwhile the stabbings in London will continue. Plod can’t help themselves and always like to turn out in force for a non job job. Surely some of these coppers must know that all they are doing is harassing Laurence Fox.
What a firkin country!
Yep, arrested. I guess more details will be revealed in due course;
”In a statement, a police spokesperson said: “On Wednesday 4 October officers arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of conspiring to commit criminal damage to ULEZ cameras and encouraging or assisting offences to be committed.
“He was arrested in Stockwell and has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody.”
https://news.sky.com/story/laurence-fox-arrested-after-video-showing-police-in-his-home-shared-on-social-media-12976589
I’m not sure she’s been quite the disaster painted here, look at Debenhams, BHS, Selfridges & House of Fraser, department stores are past their sell by date. Comparing Waitrose to M&S or Aldi is misleading.
On separate issue though, it’s always interesting to see how inter-connected government & business is. Dame Sharon’s husband is Robert Chote, currently the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority but until recently the head of the OBR & before that the head of the IFS until Paul Johnson took over.
It’s a small world.
How does the UK Statistics Authority relate to the Office for National Statistics? The latter appears incapable of recognising 6-sigma correlations between Covid mRNA injections and deaths as shown by Joel Smalley, this is what happens when you don’t look using good data but instead stir everything together and hope no one will notice.
Presumably Robert Chote’s job includes ensuring that national statisticians are competent?
Six sigma (six standard deviations) indicates over 99.9% correlation. Where did you get your data?
Joel Smalley states that the data as provided by the ONS indicates a 1-sigma correlation, which is not statistically significant. This is because the data analysis done internally at ONS uses a combination of date of reporting and does not separate deaths by age.
When re-analysed using separation by age and actual date of death the correlation increased to 6-sigma, thus indicating a very severe problem which ONS were trying to brush under the carpet which is a bit tricky with an elephant standing on it.
As far as I know, these are all brands formerly owned by the SportsDirect guy who already wanted to get rid of some of them before Corona Extra provided a golden opportunity for doing so.
It ticked a lot of boxes though.
I can think of only two reasons why she might have got to the top of the interview list and neither of them is managerial exellence, marketing experience or corporate leadership.
They probably thought she had contacts within the state to keep the wolves from the door. Except she wasn’t sufficiently part of the in-crowd and Joh Lewis suffered for it.
The Tories bailed out the Coop so maybe Labour will do the same for John Lewis.
The business is likely bust as they had to transfer the property assets (sic) of Waitrose to their pension scheme to keep it afloat. Nothing else left to go.
“The only mystery is why anyone thought Sharon White – the first black person and womanto serve as Chairman of John Lewis…”
Because, silly, she was the first✅ black✅ woman✅ Establishment✅ candidate and had all the necessary qualification to meet the key requirements of diversity and inclusivity. Competence is racist, sexist, and elitist.
Why do you ask?
She’s an Establishment grifter with a shield of ebony, which entitles her to be as useless as she likes because any criticism is always automatically and obviously racist.
What a succinct and eloquent appraisal.
Seconded
Being a JL pensioner I entirely agree with both Will and the DM’s summation that it was an extraordinary and obviously disastrous appointment. The person you need to ask about said appointment is the former Chairman Charlie Mayfield as it is the former Chairman’s job to place in an envelope the name of their successor. As for talking about ‘terms in office’
unless the constitution has changed since I retired once a Chairman is in office it’s for life (so to speak) so I think that’s a bit of DM speak! The Chairman can be voted out by the Central Council (elected Partners from various branches) with a two thirds majority. I believe she came very close to that until she rowed back on the idea of involving “outsiders” to run the business. Rumour also had it that at the same time she was given a year to “sort things out” (my phrase). Clearly that didn’t happened (surprise surprise) thus her resignation.
Anyone employed with this woke, deranged business should move what company pension monies they are entitled to out as quick as they can.
Unfortunately I don’t think that is possible as it was one of the last non-contributory final salary pensions. Think they’re as rare as hen’s teeth now. Of course this is no longer the case for current Partners and is part contributory, whether you’d able to move money out of that I also doubt but stand to be corrected. We did have AVCs (Additional Voluntary Contributions) with certain tax relief which you take when you retire. That was entirely separate to the final salary pension.