Pippa Wicks

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.

Pippa Wicks
NationalityBritish
OccupationBusinesswoman
TitleExecutive Director, John Lewis
TermAugust 2020-
PredecessorPaula Nickolds

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
  1. Butler, Sarah. "John Lewis appoints Pippa Wicks as executive director". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  2. "Pippa Wicks". Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  3. "Courtaulds Textiles links two top jobs". The Independent. 4 March 1993. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  4. "Co-op boss accused of breaking his own policies in sacking claim". Financial Times. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  5. "Senior Co op executive denies conflict of interest". The Times. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  6. "Profile: Pippa Wicks – the new John Lewis director unafraid to stare down the barrel". Retail Week. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  7. "Co-op boss takes a 60% cut in his pay package". The Guardian. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  8. "Co-op chief executive to step down". The Independent. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  9. "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.
  10. "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.
  11. "John Lewis appoints new department store chief". PA Media. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020 – via The National.
  12. "John Lewis poaches Co-op deputy CEO for executive director role". The Grocer. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
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