John Lewis Partnership appoints James Bailey as Government Director
The John Lewis partnership appointed James Bailey as the new Executive Director, Waitrose. It comes from Sainsbury There he was purchasing manager for food and will start in the partnership today.
Recruitment of the role of the company's executive director, John Lewis, is also ongoing. An announcement will be made in due course.
The new roles build on the management structure changes introduced last year to create a single partnership. This included replacing the separate boards of directors for John Lewis and Waitrose with a single management team and merging functions such as customer service, strategy, finance, supply chain, real estate and human resources.
Sharon White, partner and chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “I am thrilled that James is coming to us. He has had an exceptional 18 years with Sainsbury in finance, strategy, convenience and retail and most recently as head of grocery with responsibility for more than half of the company's sales and three times the size of Waitrose. His diverse background outside of retail also makes him a great cultural addition to the partnership, and I look forward to working with him.
“With these new Executive Director functions at Waitrose and John Lewis, we can get the best of both worlds from our new management structure. We have all the advantages of merging activities that are best organized through pan-partnership and reducing duplication, while recognizing that there are important differences in the way you run a department store and a supermarket. "
James Bailey said, "I am delighted to be joining the partnership. It is a store that I have long admired for its tireless focus on quality and service and which is defined as an employee-owned organization. Waitrose is the UK's best supermarket and it's a privilege to join the team. "
The two new executive directors will become members of the seven-member executive team under the chair. Your roles are:
Executive Director, John Lewis – responsible for trading, merchandising, marketing and developing customer offerings for businesses and their websites.
Executive Director, Waitrose – with the same responsibilities, including the Waitrose website.
They will also work together to develop new products and services where we see an opportunity to delight our customers and use the unique power of our combined brands.
