John Lewis boss Pippa Wicks leaves after less than three years in job

Pippa Wicks, who joined from the Co-op in August 2020, is succeeded by Naomi Simcock, the John Lewis retail director, who takes over on an interim basis. Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA

John Lewis Partnership has parted company with Pippa Wicks, the head of its department store chain who oversaw the ditching of its famous “never knowingly undersold” marketing pledge, after less than three years.

She joined the employee-owned group from the Co-op in August 2020 as part of a management restructure by the chair, Dame Sharon White, to create separate bosses for the John Lewis and Waitrose supermarket businesses.