John Lewis appoints department store and operations directors

The John Lewis Partnership has announced the appointment of Peter Ruis as executive director of the retailer’s department stores and Naomi Simcock the new operations director. 

A former John Lewis director, Ruis will rejoin the executive team on 15 January, having more than 30 years of leadership experience at a number of recognisable retailers and brands. 

He was most recently CEO at Indigo plc in Canada, leading the business as it transitioned out of the pandemic over the past three years. Before that he led Anthropologie’s international drive as MD, and was CEO at Jigsaw for four years, taking the brand into 11 countries and on to the catwalk at London Fashion Week.

Ruis joined the partnership in 2005 and over nine years was a key part of the transformation that led to John Lewis being crowned ‘Retailer of the Year’ in 2013. As buying and brand director, he had executive responsibility for the commercial and marketing arms of the business. 

Meanwhile, Simcock, who stepped into an interim executive director for the group, will work closely with Ruis as operations director. She will be responsible for the group’s retail and supply chain. 

Nish Kankiwala, CEO of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “It’s fantastic to welcome Peter back to the partnership. He has a deep understanding of customers, brands and products from his 30 year career spanning a variety of major high street and online retailers.

“I’d like to extend my enormous thanks to Naomi for her unwavering commitment and leadership of the John Lewis teams and business this past year. Naomi will do a brilliant job leading our retail and supply chain teams, working closely with Peter and the John Lewis leadership team.”

Ruis added: “It’s a great privilege to return to the John Lewis Partnership after 10 years. The John Lewis brand is iconic, loved and trusted by millions of customers across the UK and I’m excited to lead the next phase of the transformation.”

Simcock added: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed stepping in to lead John Lewis and working with partners across the business to deliver the quality, value and service our customers expect. I’m looking forward to continuing to be part of the John Lewis Leadership team, supporting our partners and ensuring our department stores and supply chain continue to deliver for our customers.”