Today in retail: Mark Lewis exits John Lewis

Group productivity director Andrew Murphy and group development director Tom Athron were among a strong cluster of candidates understood to be in the running for the role.

Another contender, retail director Mark Lewis, made a shock departure from the business today to take the top job at price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com.

His exit – which John Lewis insisted was not linked to Nickolds’ promotion despite the highly coincidental timing – will be a bitter blow to the department store chain.

During three years with John Lewis, he has developed the retailer’s online business, boosted its fulfilment proposition and driven the popularity of click and collect, which now accounts for more than half of its online orders.

Sir Charlie Mayfield was never going to satisfy everyone who threw their hat into the ring to be Andy Street’s successor.

He had a wealth of talent at his disposal, all of whom will surely have designs on a top job in the not so distant future.

One of Nickolds’ immediate challenges in the hot seat will be to maintain the rest of the John Lewis leadership team.

She will need the support of her fellow heavyweights if she is to keep John Lewis motoring.

Quote of the day

“Consumers will see the price of petrol go up. Even items bought from UK suppliers in pounds will go up because they will have been bought in dollars.” – The Entertainer founder Gary Grant

Today in numbers

3% – the year-on-year decline in the number of full-time staff in retail, according to the British Retail Consortium.

10% – the rise in prices that The Entertainer boss Gary Grant plans to introduce next year to combat the slump in the pound.

Tomorrow’s agenda

With no formal updates on the agenda tomorrow, watch the latest edition of The Retail Week, as our reporters have their say on the changes at John Lewis.

Also check out the best and worst Halloween store displays in our gallery.

Luke Tugby, deputy news editor