John Browett

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John Browett
Born (1963-12-10) 10 December 1963 (age 60) [1]
Rutland, England
Alma mater University of Cambridge
University of Pennsylvania

John Browett (born 10 December 1963) is a British businessman and former chief executive of Dunelm Group and Monsoon Accessorize. [2] He was the senior vice-president of retail at Apple Inc. from April 2012 to October 2012.

Contents

Early life

Browett was born in Rutland in 1963. [3] He attended Uppingham Community College, a comprehensive school in Uppingham, then Rutland Sixth Form College in Oakham. [1] He studied Zoology at Magdalene College, Cambridge, worked briefly for Kleinwort Benson, and then did an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. [3]

Career

From 1993 to 1998, Browett worked for the Boston Consulting Group, and then moved to Tesco, where from 1999 to 2004 he was chief executive of Tesco.com. [4] In October 2007, Browett was hired as a non-executive director of the EasyJet board. [5] In December 2007, he was appointed group chief executive of electronics retailer Dixons, where he helped to improve the company's poor reputation for customer service, serving until February 2012. [4] [6]

In April 2012, Browett took over from Ron Johnson as senior vice-president of retail at Apple in Cupertino, California. [7] In October, Apple announced that Browett was leaving the company, and that a new head of retail was being sought. In May 2019, Bloomberg attributed his departure to his "morale-damaging" efforts following employee firings, cut hours, fewer promotions and a reduction in overtime for staff operating within Apple Stores that led to Tim Cook firing him. [8] [9]

In March 2013, Browett was appointed chief executive of Monsoon Accessorize. In his first year in charge the company returned to profitability, with pre-tax profits of £18.1 million in the financial year to 31 August 2013, compared to a pre-tax loss of £2.4 million in the previous year. [10] [11]

He left Monsoon in February 2015, and became chief executive designate of the Dunelm Group from July of that year, expected to take over the position from January 2016. [2] In July 2015, he joined Octopus Group board as a non-executive director. [12]

By the end of August 2017, Browett had left Dunelm where he was seen, as with Apple, as a bad fit for the culture of the company. [13] Since 2018, he has been at BillSave UK. [14]

In 2023, he was appointed as a new Chairman of the UK fibre network operator Vorboss, also entering the board of Fern Trading Group. [15] [16]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Shah, Oliver (10 April 2016). "I had to eat humble pie at Apple, but now I'm raring to sell you a duvet". The Sunday Times.
  2. 1 2 "Dunelm names former Dixons CEO John Browett as new boss". telegraph.co.uk. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 Neate, Rupert (31 January 2012). "Dixons boss John Browett swaps Hemel Hempstead for Apple's California HQ". The Guardian.
  4. 1 2 Executive profile: John Browett. Bloomsburg BusinessWeek. Archived 29 January 2015.
  5. "Tesco CEO Joins EasyJet's Board | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  6. Rupert Neate (31 January 2012). Apple poaches Dixons chief, John Browett. The Guardian. Accessed 1 February 2012.
  7. John Browett: Senior Vice President, Retail. Apple Inc. Archived 4 May 2012.
  8. [Apple Press Info] (29 October 2012).Apple Announces Changes to Increase Collaboration Across Hardware, Software & Services. Apple Inc. Archived 29 October 2012.
  9. "How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  10. Graham Ruddick (7 February 2014). Monsoon back in the black as former Apple boss boosts sales. The Telegraph. Accessed January 2015.
  11. Tiffany Holland (7 February 2014). Monsoon Accessorize 'back on track' under new boss John Browett. Retail Week . Accessed January 2015.
  12. "Retail veteran Browett joining Octopus board as non-executive". CityAM. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. Conor Sullivan (30 August 2017). Homewares retailer Dunelm parts ways with chief executive. The Financial Times. Accessed 22 October 2017.
  14. Tugby2018-01-05T07:43:00+00:00, Luke. "Ex-Dunelm boss John Browett takes reins at BillSaveUK". Retail Week. Retrieved 22 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. Jackson, Mark (19 January 2023). "London Business Fibre ISP Vorboss Appoints New Chairman". ISPreview UK. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  16. "Vorboss Appoints John Browett as New Chair – Fibre News". 15 October 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.