Sir Charlie Mayfield will step down as chairman of the John Lewis Partnership in 2020 after more than a decade overseeing the management of two of Britain’s best known retailers.
The partnership, which owns John Lewis department stores and Waitrose, said that it had begun a search for a successor and, in a break from tradition, would consider external candidates.
His departure comes at a time of great change in the industry and at the partnership, which in September reported a 99% fall in half-year profits to £1.2m.
