Former myWaitrose customer loyalty manager Neil Stead has claimed the upmarket retailer’s parent company, the John Lewis Partnership, is losing sight of its “core ethos” amid a lack of confidence from partners.
According to The Times, Stead said that the John Lewis Partnership should focus its efforts back onto customers to re-gain its “former glory”.
The retailer has come under pressure of late following annual losses of £234 million along with its plans to sell a minority stake in the business to raise funds.
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Last week, White also suffered a blow after the Partnership council said it did not have confidence in the businesses performence under her leadership.
Stead explained to The Times that throughout his time with Waitrose, he “always worked with a customer-first mentality,” and that its “partners came a very close second,” adding that by the end of his time at the retailer he felt “the focus had turned to profit and specifically short-term sales”.
He said that while he expects the business will “one day return to its former glory,” it needs to “adapt to the ever-changing retail horizon. It must regain sight of its customers, not just the low-hanging fruit, and its partners”.
