John Lewis Partnership appoints new CEO

The John Lewis Partnership has announced the appointment of Nish Kankiwala as its new CEO.

Kankiwala has been a non-executive director of the John Lewis Partnership since April 2021 and he is also the former CEO of Hovis and has held senior roles at Burger King and PepsiCo.

He will take up the new role on 27 March and remains a member of the Partnership board.

Kankiwala said: “It’s a great privilege to be appointed as chief executive following two rewarding years on the Partnership’s board as a non-executive director. I am looking forward to playing an even fuller part in the transformation of the Partnership, to be a modern business loved by customers and treasured by our partners.”

Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, added: “I’m delighted that Nish is to be chief executive. Since joining the Board in 2021, Nish has developed a deep understanding and appreciation of the Partnership model and has provided counsel on our transformation. He will be able to supercharge this in his new role while protecting the Partnership’s ethos.

“Nish and I will work closely to ensure the Partnership thrives for another century. The new structure allows me to focus on the preservation of the Partnership model and our distinctive character, on the strategy for the Partnership and our big commercial choices. Nish will draw on his significant transformation experience to drive performance and profitability day to day.”

The John Lewis Partnership consists of Waitrose and John Lewis and is the UK’s biggest employee-owned business with nearly 80,000 partners.