Pippa Wicks

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Pippa Wicks
Born (1962-12-18) 18 December 1962 (age 61)
NationalityBritish
Education University of Oxford
OccupationBusinesswoman
TitleExecutive Director
TermAugust 2020 - 2023
Predecessor Paula Nickolds
SuccessorPeter Ruis

Pippa Wicks (born 18 December 1962) is a British businesswoman, and the former executive director of John Lewis & Partners.

Contents

Personal life

Wicks was born on 18 December 1962 to a father employed in marketing at the chemicals company Imperial Chemical Industries, and a mother who was a justice of the peace. During her early teens, her family moved to Buckinghamshire. She attended Lady Verney High School in High Wycombe. [1] She studied zoology at the University of Oxford, [2] [3] and later studied at the London Business School. [3]

She is married and has a son and two stepdaughters. [1]

Career

Wicks has worked for Bain & Company. [2] In 1993, she left Bain to become finance director at Courtaulds Textiles. [4] Wicks later worked for a business education company, Pearson, before moving to consultancy firm AlixPartners. [2] [1] Wicks was later hired by The Co-operative Group as interim chief operating officer. [5] [6] When Wicks joined the Co-operative Group, the company's future was uncertain. [7] At The Co-operative Group, Wicks earned over one million pounds a year. [8] In 2017, Wicks was appointed deputy chief executive officer of The Co-operative Group in a restructure following Richard Pennycook's resignation as CEO. [9] Wicks was an advocate of The Co-operative Group setting up a programme to employ victims of modern slavery, giving them a four-week paid work experience placement. [10] In 2019, whilst Wicks was deputy CEO, Co-op Insurance was merged with Markerstudy Group at a cost of £185 million. [11]

In June 2020, Wicks was announced as the new head of John Lewis & Partners, a British department store which is part of the John Lewis Partnership group. [2] [12] The role has been separated from the previous joint role of head of John Lewis and Waitrose. [12] Wicks took up the position in August 2020, [2] [13] and succeeded Paula Nickolds as head of John Lewis & Partners. [2] At the time of her appointment, she was one of five women on the board of the John Lewis Partnership. [2] Wicks left John Lewis & Partners in February 2023 [14] . Wicks was instrumental in the 'ditching' of the organisation's century-old 'Never Knowingly Undersold' pledge [15] . On 5 September 2024 it was announced that John Lewis were bringing back Never Knowingly Undersold. [16] [17]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Chambers, Sam (17 July 2021). "After her Co-op crisis mission, now Pippa Wicks is focused on the redemption of John Lewis". The Sunday Times.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Butler, Sarah. "John Lewis appoints Pippa Wicks as executive director". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Pippa Wicks". Bloomberg . Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "Courtaulds Textiles links two top jobs". The Independent . 4 March 1993. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  5. ↑ "Co-op boss accused of breaking his own policies in sacking claim" . Financial Times . 20 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  6. ↑ "Senior Co op executive denies conflict of interest". The Times . 20 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "Profile: Pippa Wicks – the new John Lewis director unafraid to stare down the barrel". Retail Week . 29 June 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Co-op boss takes a 60% cut in his pay package". The Guardian . 7 April 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Co-op chief executive to step down". The Independent . 7 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Co-op offers jobs to victims of modern slavery and human trafficking". The Independent . 19 January 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.; "'My captors took everything, my job gives me a future'". BBC News . 18 January 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "UK's Co-op sells insurance business to Markerstudy" . Financial Times . 18 January 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.; "MARKERSTUDY ACQUIRES CO-OP INSURANCE UNDERWRITING BUSINESS FOR £185M". Business Leader. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  12. 1 2 "John Lewis appoints new department store chief". PA Media . 24 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020– via The National.
  13. ↑ "John Lewis poaches Co-op deputy CEO for executive director role". The Grocer . 24 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Sweney, Mark (27 February 2023). "John Lewis boss Pippa Wicks leaves after less than three years in job". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  15. ↑ Sweney, Mark (27 February 2023). "John Lewis boss Pippa Wicks leaves after less than three years in job". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  16. ↑ "John Lewis brings back 'never knowingly undersold' price pledge". BBC News. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  17. ↑ Butler, Sarah (5 September 2024). "John Lewis brings back 'never knowingly undersold' promise". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 5 September 2024.
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