John Lewis staff council backs Sharon White as chair

Staff at the John Lewis Partnership agreed to allow Sharon White to continue in her role as the retailer’s chair on Wednesday, but remained critical of her overseeing of losses and controversial plans to sell a stake in the firm to investors.

The employee-owned group, which operates the John Lewis and Waitrose nameplates, confirmed White would continue after the 60-strong employee representative council voted earlier in the day.

White had faced serious backlash after it was reported that she was considering selling a portion of the partnership to external investors, in a bid to raise £2bn.

“The council voted in support of the chairman to progress the partnership in relation to its purpose, principles and rules,” said the partnership council’s president Chris Earnshaw after Wednesday’s vote.

“The council did not support last year’s performance, in which we reported a full year loss and no partner bonus.

“The council, chairman and board will continue to work together to ensure the long-term success of the partnership and our employee-owned model.”

Ahead of the vote, Sharon White told the council that the John Lewis Partnership would always remain employee-owned, adding that there was “no question” of demutualisation.

“Our model is the reason I joined the partnership as I believe in a form of kinder capitalism in the 21st century which demonstrates our ability to combine commercial excellence with social purpose,” she was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.