The Entertainer has snapped up outgoing John Lewis Partnership COO Andrew Murphy as its new chief executive.
Murphy, who resigned from John Lewis Partnership last year after 30 years at the helm, will join The Entertainer in mid-October. He replaces Mark Campbell who left the toy retailer this summer.
He said: “My time with The John Lewis Partnership comes to an end in the next few weeks. I owe the business a great deal and will forever be a well wisher.It’s humbling to be trusted to oversee the continued growth and development of this fantastic business.
“With over 170 UK shops, a further 220 globally, and a growing product distribution business, The Entertainer along with Early Learning Centre and Addo Play have become mainstays in the lives of children and parents across Britain & many other countries.
“I can’t wait (patience not being one of my virtues!) to join the brilliant team behind such a great British success story and – like The Partnership – a founder and a company who believe in business as a ‘force for good’ across the communities in which they trade.”
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The Entertainer founder and executive chairman Gary Grant added: “We are looking forward to welcoming Andrew to The Entertainer family and using his knowledge, skills and experience to continue to grow our business both here in the UK and globally.”
Murphy, a judge of this year’s Retail Gazette Awards, was one of John Lewis’ most experienced retailers and joined the group straight out of university.
He worked his way up from the shop floor of the department store’s Aberdeen branch to lead its Scottish business before holding key roles such as retail director, group productivity and change director, CIO and latterly COO.
The exec revealed last year that he was leaving the partnership after a “WTAF moment” when he realised he had hit the 30 year milestone at the retail group.
He wrote on LinkedIn at the time: “I’ve never dwelt on my age or anyone else’s. But there was something about hitting 50 that seemed to aggressively shatter any illusion I might have had that time – my time – was unlimited.”
He said he “never wanted this [JLP] to be my only – or final – gig” so opted to stand down.
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