Peter Ruis returns to John Lewis and will lead department stores business

Former Jigsaw boss Peter Ruis has been appointed to lead John Lewis department stores, returning to the business where he once worked for nine years.

Employee-owned John Lewis Partnership, behind John Lewis and Waitrose, said Ruis has been appointed as an executive director.

It added that Naomi Simcock, interim executive director for John Lewis, takes up a new role as operations director with responsibility for John Lewis retail and supply chain.

The appointments come as the partnership looks to head back to a better financial position, with moves underway, that were launched by chairman Dame Sharon White, to boost revenues.

That has included the launch of Anyday, a new more affordable own-brand selling tech and fashion, and working to deliver rental homes including some above stores.

Ruis, who joins the partnership’s executive team on January 15, has more than 30 years of leadership experience at a number of retailers and brands. Most recently he was chief executive of home goods retailer Indigo in Canada, and prior roles include leading fashion company Jigsaw.

He is also a former John Lewis director and was at the partnership between 2005 and 2013.

Ruis said: “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.”

Nish Kankiwala, chief executive of the John Lewis Partnership, said the new boss “has a deep understanding of customers, brands and product from his 30 year career spanning a variety of major high street and online retailers”.

Last year it was announced that White will be stepping down as chair when her term comes to an end in February 2025.

She said at the time: “Having led the partnership through the pandemic and the worst of the cost of living crisis, it is important that there is now a smooth and orderly succession process and handover.”

The John Lewis Partnership has appointed Peter Ruis as executive director to lead John Lewis (john lewis)

The most recent financial updates showed that owing to inflationary pressures the partnership plan will take two additional years to deliver – in 2027/28 rather than 2025/26.

For the six months to July 29 pre-tax losses narrowed by 41% to £59 million and sales improved 2% to £5.8 billion. The company added that 600,000 more customers shopped with it in the half, taking the total number of customers to 21.4 million.

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