Dame Sharon White, chairwoman of John LewisHaving shown a willingness to roll up her sleeves for a corporate dust-up, Dame Sharon White is steeling herself to take on one of the biggest jobs in British retail (Miles Costello writes). After nearly five years as chief executive of Ofcom — notably taking on BT over governance at Openreach, its networks operator, and winning — Dame Sharon, 52, is to chair the John Lewis Partnership. The former civil servant joins the company, which also owns Waitrose, next month and will have replaced Sir Charlie Mayfield, 53, by February. Seen as a surprise arrival because of her lack of experience in retail, she becomes only the sixth person to hold the role. It is also the first time…

Source: The Times December 30, 2019 00:05 UTC