Pippa Wicks
Pippa Wicks | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Title | Executive Director, John Lewis |
| Term | August 2020- |
| Predecessor | Paula Nickolds |
Pippa Wicks is a British businesswoman who is currently deputy chief executive officer of The Co-operative Group. In August 2020, she is due to become the executive director of John Lewis & Partners.
Personal life
Wicks studied zoology at the University of Oxford,[1][2] and later studied at the London Business School.[2]
Career
Wicks has worked for Bain & Company.[1] In 1993, she left Bain to become finance director at Courtaulds Textiles.[3] Wicks later worked for a business education company before moving to consultancy firm AlixPartners.[1] Wicks was later hired by The Co-operative Group as interim chief operating officer.[4] The move was challenged as a potential conflict of interest, as Wick had done some work for The Co-operative Group whilst at AlixPartners. She had been paid £8,000 a day for the work. Wicks denied the conflict-of-interest allegation.[4][5] When Wicks joined the Co-operative Group, the company's future was uncertain.[6] At The Co-operative Group, Wicks earnt over one million pounds a year.[7] In 2017, Wicks was appointed deputy chief executive officer of The Co-operative Group in a restructure following Richard Pennycook's resignation as CEO.[8] 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.[9] In 2019, whilst Wicks was deputy CEO, Co-op Insurance was merged with Markerstudy Group at a cost of £185 million.[10]
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.[1][11] The role has been separated from the previous joint role of head of John Lewis and Waitrose.[11] Wicks took up the position in August 2020,[1][12] and succeeded Paula Nickolds as head of John Lewis & Partners.[1] At the time of her appointment, she was one of five women on the board of the John Lewis Partnership.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Butler, Sarah. "John Lewis appoints Pippa Wicks as executive director". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Pippa Wicks". Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Courtaulds Textiles links two top jobs". The Independent. 4 March 1993. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Co-op boss accused of breaking his own policies in sacking claim". Financial Times. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Senior Co op executive denies conflict of interest". The Times. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Profile: Pippa Wicks – the new John Lewis director unafraid to stare down the barrel". Retail Week. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ "Co-op boss takes a 60% cut in his pay package". The Guardian. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Co-op chief executive to step down". The Independent. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "John Lewis appoints new department store chief". PA Media. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020 – via The National.
- ^ "John Lewis poaches Co-op deputy CEO for executive director role". The Grocer. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.