John Lewis nabs Tesco veteran as it looks to turn page on Sharon White debacle

Ailing high street favourite John Lewis has appointed Tesco veteran Jason Tarry as its new chair, taking over from Dame Sharon White – who will bring her disastrous tenure at the top of the partnership to a premature end.

Tarry will be only the seventh chair of the shopping giant which has undergone a tumultuous time under White’s control.

White had originally planned to leave in 2025 but will now leave in September of this year.

Tarry spent 33 years at Tesco with the last six being as UK and Ireland chief executive. He dipped his toe into fields ranging from grocery and merchandising to fashion and management, having joined Britain’s biggest supermarket in 1990.

Tarry also led the expansion of F&F Clothing across Europe as chief executive.

He is expected to take up the role in September with White then stepping down, with John Lewis saying that “the time commitment, term and remuneration of the chairman’s role will remain unchanged”, under a new boss.

This comes after Sharon White said she would step down at the end of her five year term, and not seek a second period in charge.

White was appointed despite no experience in the retail sector and was almost immediately faced with leading the partnership through Covid-19.

In that time she has come under fire for store closures, a push into property, and a failure to deliver staff’s annual bonus.

Following news of her impending departure, John Lewis, which also owns Waitrose, has continued its bid to turn around its fortunes, with major investments in the pipeline.

The employee-owned John Lewis Partnership (JLP) said in March it will not pay staff a bonus this year, but it reported a return to profit before tax of £56m, marking a £290m improvement year-on-year. 

JLP said it would invest one billion pounds into the refurbishment of some Waitrose stores and would also look to open a handful of more sites.

It also announced plans to slash 11,000 jobs and halve redundancy pay, in a bid to cut costs.

John Lewis made a series of other appointments in a bid to help the turnaround, including bringing back its former director Peter Ruis to lead the department chain.

Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “I’m delighted to be handing over to Jason, who has a combination of fantastic retail experience with leadership through transformation.”

“From my many conversations with Jason, he has demonstrated a clear appreciation for the Partnership model and champions it. I look forward to welcoming him to the Partnership in September and carrying out a smooth handover. “

She said she’s “proud of what everyone has achieved. We’ve built the foundations for a stronger Partnership”.  

Jason Tarry, chairman designate, said: “The Partnership and its brands stand for trust, value, quality and service and it’s a great privilege to be succeeding Sharon as the seventh Chairman.”

“The Partnership is unique and I’ve long been an admirer of the employee-ownership model, its values and Partner-led customer service.”

Rita Clifton, deputy chairman and chair of the nomination committee, said extended “huge thanks to Sharon for successfully leading the Partnership through one of the most testing periods in its history – first Covid and then the cost of living crisis.”

“She has faced into the toughest decisions and overseen the Partnership’s financial recovery; we are in good financial health with a return to profit, and have a strong balance sheet with record investment planned this year.”

“As the Partnership moves into the next phase of its modernisation focused on our core retail business as well future growth, we are confident that Jason will provide the kind of inspirational leadership, a proven track record in multi-channel, multi-category retail success and a strong identification with Partnership values that we are seeking in this role.”