// John Lewis new CEO Nish Kankiwala tells staff that the partnership must reform its business model “at pace”
// Kankiwala was appointed to the newly created post of chief executive last month
John Lewis new boss Nish Kankiwala has told staff that the partnership must reform its business model “at pace”.
Kankiwala was appointed to the newly created post of chief executive last month by chair Sharon White, to help the retailer to “thrive for another century”.
He said “the way the partnership did business would have to change to make it more efficient and affordable, and that action would have to come at pace”.
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Kankiwala was most recently chief executive of Hovis.
He has spent the majority of his career in FMCG, beginning his career at Unilever before heading up Burger King’s international operations and later becoming the president of Pepsico’s soft drinks business in Europe and Africa.
Kankiwala’s comments come days after the partnership, which includes Waitrose, pushed back against reports that it was exploring a controversial partial demutualisation in an attempt to raise between £1 billion and £2 billion of new investment.
It has debts of £1.7 billion and faces increasing competition from online rivals.
