Opinion: John Lewis sets the pace with Paula Nickolds’ promotion

Much has been made of the fact that her promotion makes her the first woman to run such a high-profile, high-status retailer.

So it should be, and it is welcome for that reason alone.

“What’s most important about Nickolds’s new role is not because she is a woman, but because she is a skilled retailer with the attributes to be an excellent managing director”

The relative absence of women chief executives in an industry that so often relies upon female shoppers for custom is a frequent talking point.

It is one that prompted Retail Week’s Be Inspired campaign, for which Nickolds coincidentally is an ambassador.

By elevating Nickolds to the top job John Lewis, one of retail’s most venerable and pioneering names has once again shown itself to be a leader of the pack.

Others will no doubt follow that example, and more women in retail’s boardrooms can be expected.

The most important point though is not because she is a woman, but because she is a skilled retailer with the attributes to be an excellent managing director.

She is described by colleagues as “a great people person”, indicating her capacity to inspire and lead.

She brings a wealth of experience at John Lewis whether from the haberdashery department, where she started out, to commercial director, her most recent role.

Having spent her career at the retailer since joining as a graduate trainee in 1994, she is John Lewis through and through. That’s a vital characteristic at a business whose success is built upon a unique culture, that has sustained through to today.

This has enabled it to navigate the seismic changes that have transformed retail.

As she picks up the mantle from predecessor Andy Street, she can probably be expected to follow a broadly similar direction.

Modified by her own particular perspectives, sense of priorities and way of doing things, she is credited with a variety of innovations at the business. The strategy that has already been set at John Lewis won’t change.

As the retailer said at last month’s interim results, for shops, it is about being “anchored in convenience and experience – giving customers a reason to visit and inspiring them when they are there.”

The new store in Leeds is the latest example, and expect the retailer to continue to build its multichannel prowess.

This put it on the front foot versus many competitors, and which is a focus for investment – whether in the supply chain or service.

Given Nickolds’s long and varied experience, she brings continuity as well as change. It’s a case of ‘the king is dead, long live the queen’.

BHS blame game

Sir Philip Green took to the TV screens to say again that he was “very, very sorry”.

The MPs had their moment in the sun and dutifully delivered their savage soundbites.

The BHS saga rumbles on but the longer it continues the more it seems to be about knighthoods, finger-pointing and blame.

Amid all the sound and fury last week it was easy to forget what the row was all about.

For all the grandstanding, the people who lost their jobs and whose pensions are at risk are still no better off.