John Lewis confirms head of branch appointment for Birmingham flagship
DEPARTMENT store partnership John Lewis has announced the head of branch for its new £35m flagship operation in Birmingham.
Lisa Williams will become manager of the 250,000 sq ft store at the Grand Central retail development adjoining New Street Station when the scheme officially opens in September next year.
Ms Williams, who is originally from Shirley, is currently head of branch at John Lewis High Wycombe and this month celebrates 25 years with the retail partnership.
She replaces Kim Lowe who was initially appointed head of branch when the retailer was working to an earlier opening date – thought to be Christmas this year. Ms Lowe has subsequently taken up a role as head of branch at John Lewis Bluewater, one of the retailer’s largest shops.
Ms Williams has worked at John Lewis in a variety of customer facing roles. She started her career as a part-time selling assistant at John Lewis Milton Keynes and has since worked her way up through a number of operational roles at eight of the retailer’s shops including Sheffield, Cribbs Causeway and Bluewater.
She has been head of branch at High Wycombe for the past three years and in the last 18 months oversaw the retailer’s largest redevelopment investment of 2013 when the store was the beneficiary of a £16m refurbishment programme. The upgrade created 200 new jobs within the partnership and has led to sales growth of 27% at the shop.
The retailer will be the anchor tenant of the Grand Central scheme and the store will be one of the partnership’s largest outside London.
Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis said: “Lisa is perfectly placed to ensure John Lewis Birmingham delivers the excellent standards and service that our customers expect. She brings a breadth of experience as a leader and a fantastic track record of managing external relationships to this exciting and demanding role and I wish her every success.
Street, who also chairs the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, added: “Our aspiration is for John Lewis Birmingham to become the cornerstone of wider regeneration in the south side of the city centre and to deliver a legacy of real quality and value to the area. We are also very pleased to confirm an opening date, and look forward to presenting our new regional flagship department store to the shopping public of Birmingham.”
Ms Williams said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be taking on this new challenge in the UK’s second largest city. I look forward to establishing our regional flagship shop in the centre of Birmingham and in the heart of the local community.”
The retailer, which has long eyed Birmingham as a venue for one of its stores, said the store would feature more than 350,000 products spread across departments including fashion, furniture, homewares, beauty and the technology.
