John Lewis boss Dame Sharon White to step down next year

John Lewis boss Dame Sharon White is to step down next year after five years, making her the briefest serving chair in the partnership's 100-year history.

The BBC has learnt that Dame Sharon has initiated talks with the firm's board to appoint her successor.

Dame Sharon's current five-year term ends next year and she has told the board she will not seek a second term.

The partnership reported a loss of £234m last year, forcing it to scrap the annual staff bonus.

People familiar with the matter say that she is leaving at a moment when she considers the worst of the cost of living crisis to be over.

Dame Sharon had faced controversy after she considered breaking the historic employee-owned structure of the partnership, which also owns Waitrose, by selling a stake to outside investors to raise money to invest in the partnership.

That plan was eventually shelved.

Recently, it was announced that Waitrose would sell off a number of stores and lease them back to raise cash.

Two weeks ago, the partnership announced losses had narrowed to £59m for the first six months of the year.

At the time, Dame Sharon said the transformation to profitability was taking longer than expected because of the cost of living crisis and there was a long road ahead.

Dame Sharon White will not be on that road for much longer.