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bringing his experience to the John Lewis Partnership in 2000 as head of business development. His rapid rise in the company began the following year when he was appointed to the board as development director. Appointed managing director in 2005 and then deputy chairman of the group, he succeeded Sir Stuart Hampton as chairman in March 2007.
Mayfield, who admitted to knowing the John Lewis side of the business very well but not the supermarket side, spent his first months visiting as many of the Waitrose stores as possible. The company is unique in that all employees are partners, and this collective ‘buy-in’ has earned the loyalty of the staff. Mayfield said that one of its strengths was that it could plan years ahead without having to satisfy the annual dividend demands from shareholders. In his initial years, he presided over considerable growth and was knighted for services to the retail industry in 2013. Concurrently, he brought his business skills to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills as chairman of the non-public body, providing advice to government. However, by 2018, John Lewis was hit with rising costs, higher business rates and a weaker pound, and Sir Charlie Mayfield announced that he would step down in 2020 to enable the organisation to find a suitable replacement.
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