Can Tesco veteran Jason Tarry turn things round at John Lewis?

Jason Tarry’s appointment as the new chair of the John Lewis Partnership seems to have been met with near-universal acclaim in the retail sector.

As he prepares to take on one of the most high-profile roles in British business, Tarry is held in high regard by peers, giving rise to the hopes that he can return the partnership, a unique retail institution, to glory.

Tarry will succeed Dame Sharon White in September, taking over as JLP, which owns grocer Waitrose as well as eponymous department stores, seeks to get back on the front foot after some difficult years.

Many would acknowledge that White was dealt a tough hand. Soon after her appointment in 2019, the pandemic hit, followed by the cost-of-living crisis, but she has faced criticism for her lack of retail experience.

While it might make sense in the longer term to seek to diversify John Lewis’ operations into fields such as financial services and even property management, White’s tenure has seen the retailer struggle in a shifting consumer landscape. 

Retail Week spoke to industry experts and John Lewis insiders to see if Tarry is the right man to turn the retailing icon around.

Return to retailing

Commentators agree that Tarry’s immediate priority must be to ensure John Lewis once again punches above its weight in the arena that made it famous – retail.

In that respect, Tarry ticks the boxes. He is steeped in the industry, having started on Tesco’s graduate scheme 33 years ago. In the intervening years, the grocery giant provided him hands-on experience in categories such as fashion as he expanded the F&F brand, and in a variety of senior operational and commercial roles, before becoming chief executive of the flagship UK and Ireland division in 2018.

Clarity Search managing partner Fran Minogue expects that at JLP, Tarry will champion stores, focus on keeping things simple and ensure the retailer gets the basics right on factors such as service and availability.

But as JLP battles to rebuild its appeal and restore staff morale, Tarry will bring experience of the lows as well as the highs of retail, recalled from the dark days of the 2014 accounting scandal which brought Tesco to its knees.

“We are confident Jason will provide the kind of inspirational leadership, a proven track record in multichannel, multicategory retail success and a strong identification with partnership values that we are seeking”

Rita Clifton, John Lewis Partnership

It was at the end of that year that Tarry was promoted to chief commercial officer – a testament to his strengths seen as key to Tesco’s recovery. As search specialist firm Barracuda managing partner Justin Linger observes: “He’s been at old Tesco, he’s been at new Tesco, he’s been through the turmoil and turnaround and he was one of the only [senior leadership] survivors.”

He is also seen as a good people person, having spoken out on issues such as the impact of retail crime on frontline staff, paying tribute to their role in the unprecedented Feed the Nation initiatives during the pandemic and overseeing a record increase in base pay.

Headhunter Anthony Gregg Partnership founder Tony Gregg says his ability to get on with people will stand him in good stead at John Lewis: “He has the interpersonal ability to make wholesale changes the right way, but not be a bull in the china shop.”

Strategically, it seems unlikely there will be a dramatic change of course at JLP, but the retail ante will be upped.

‘A proven track record’

John Lewis deputy chair Rita Clifton, who led the recruitment process, said: “As the partnership moves into the next phase of its modernisation, focused on our core retail business as well future growth, we are confident that Jason will provide the kind of inspirational leadership, a proven track record in multichannel, multicategory retail success and a strong identification with partnership values that we are seeking.”

Alongside the repeated emphasis on the centrality of retail to the partnership’s future, Clifton also pushed home a message that the business has the resources to pursue its ambitions. She said White left the business “in good financial health with a return to profit and… a strong balance sheet with record investment planned this year”.

Tarry, like White, will be an executive chair and devote the same amount of time to the role. That has prompted some to wonder what that means for Nish Kankiwala, who was appointed as JLP’s first chief executive last year after being a non-executive.

Linger believes Tarry and Kankiwala will make a good team: “Their skillsets and backgrounds complement each other and they’ve both seen through significant change [at other companies].”

There is undoubtedly a renewed focus on the importance of retail experience at JLP – especially as arch-rival M&S powers ahead on food and fashion

Additionally, as a chair, Tarry will have wider business responsibilities as well as involvement in the day-to-day. He will know from White’s experience, after she was embroiled in controversy over the possibility of bringing in external investment that some feared would threaten its unique ownership model, that those wider duties can be among the most problematic.

That is likely to mean he has lots to learn in the role, not having the same serial experience as other leading retail chairs such as Archie Norman and Andy Higginson.

Some observers believe Tarry hoped to succeed Ken Murphy to lead Tesco at group level but, for whatever reason, that was looking unlikely. That leads them to ask, uncharitably, whether Tarry is the right person to become chair of JLP.

However, most are more likely to give the hire three cheers. Following the return of Peter Ruis to lead the John Lewis department stores business, there is undoubtedly a renewed focus on the importance of retail experience at JLP – especially as arch-rival Marks & Spencer powers ahead on both the food and fashion fronts.

Tarry will no doubt need to do some learning on the job but many agree he possesses the qualities needed to take the national institution that is John Lewis forward.