John Lewis under fire for lack of diversity in top ranks

The department store retailer currently has three people of colour in its executive team - chair Sharon White, her first appointment Nina Bhatia, who is acting as chief strategy officer, and Bérangère Michel, who helms customer service. 

A spokesman for the retailer told The Guardian that there are three other non-white managers across the business, but declined to name them.

White pledged to increase diversity at John Lewis when she joined the business at the beginning of this year, and said that although the retail group  “was formed with equality for all at its very heart and we know we still have work to do to become a more diverse and inclusive workplace.”

But a John Lewis employee who asked not be name told The Guardian that there was “a barrier to get in, a barrier to overcome the underestimation of one’s talents, and once one’s talents are recognised there is a barrier of cronyism which becomes a barrier for progression”.

John Lewis published its first diversity report, called Be Yourself Always, just two weeks before White took the helm as chair of the business.

The report showed that 13.7% of John Lewis workers identify as BAME, broadly in line with the general population. But these employees tend to be represented in the more entry level roles, with 17% of BAME employees among the group’s lowest paid staff while just 3% are represented in the top four management levels.

This is representative of racial diversity in British business more broadly. The government backed Park review, which reports ethnic diversity in the boardrooms of listed companies was updated in February.

It found that just 6.8% of director positions across the FTSE 350 index were held by people of colour.