John Lewis COO to step down

The chief operating officer of John Lewis Partnership (JLP), Andrew Murphy, has announced he will be stepping down from the role next year.

Murphy revealed his intention on LinkedIn, where he noted that his reasoning was based on his sudden awareness of ageing and that, by August 2022, he had been with the company for 30 years.

During his time at John Lewis, Murphy said he had taken on 17 different roles, including selling assistant and a number of operating board and executive team positions.

In the post, Murphy published a quote by chairman of JLP, Sharon White, in regards to his departure from the company.

White said in the statement that during his time at JLP, Murphy had been an “outstanding” partner and leader under three chairmen, and had provided a “huge source of support and guidance” to various teams.

She continued: “From his pivotal role in establishing JL as the UK’s pre-eminent omnichannel retailer, as JL retail director, to his leadership of the Partnership as group COO, navigating us so successfully through the pandemic, we owe him a huge debt of gratitude.”

Murphy is set to leave the company in summer 2023, prior to which he said he would still be “fixated on the job at hand”.

He noted that he will particularly be focused on supporting his teams to ensure both Waitrose and John Lewis achieve as much as they possibly could from the upcoming “golden quarter” in UK retail.