John Lewis is bringing back its former fashion boss Peter Ruis to lead the department store chain – after more than a decade running retailers including Jigsaw and Anthropologie – in its latest effort to turn around the business.
The appointment of an experienced retailer, with 30 years in the industry including stints at Marks & Spencer, Ted Baker and Levi’s before joining John Lewis, and most recently as chief executive of Canada’s Indigo books and homewares chain, comes amid falling sales and profits at the department store.
Ruis, who worked at John Lewis between 2005 and 2013, will start next week, replacing Naomi Simcock, who has been interim boss since the abrupt exit of Pippa Wicks almost a year ago. Simcock will take up a new role as operations director for the chain.
Ruis will have a long to-do list when he returns to the business, which calls its employees partners as they are co-owners. The department store has struggled amid improved competition from Marks & Spencer, especially online, and the high cost of running its large stores as footfall on high streets has yet to fully recover since the pandemic lockdowns.
Wicks was responsible for initiatives including replacing John Lewis’s century-old price-matching pledge, which had weighed heavily on profitability, as well as parting ways with the agency responsible for its famous Christmas campaigns for more than a decade. She also launched its low-cost Anyday range. However, sales continued to decline and the new agency’s Christmas ad was not seen as a major change of direction.
Ruis said: “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. As the biggest employee-owned business in the UK, we have a huge opportunity to make even more of the unique partner difference to provide exceptional products and service for our customers.”
Nish Kankiwala, the former Hovis boss who is chief executive of John Lewis Partnership, which owns the department store chain and Waitrose, said Ruis would bring with him “a deep understanding of customers, brands and product from his 30-year career spanning a variety of major high street and online retailers”.
“He also brings a clear and proven passion for the John Lewis brand and the partnership model, and I have no doubt he will be integral to our future success,” Kankiwala said.
Ruis’s appointment comes amid criticism of a lack of retail experience at the top of the John Lewis Partnership since the arrival of its chair, the former Ofcom boss Dame Sharon White, in early 2020.
White has overseen a restructure, including job cuts and store closures, helping the business slash its debts, but also poor retail performance amid increased emphasis on non-retail ventures including financial services and building homes to rent. She is due to step down in February next year.
By Sarah Butler
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