The John Lewis Partnership has announced that Waitrose’s managing director James Bailey will be stepping down from the role in September.

The company said that Bailey, who joined the retailer in 2020, was pivotal in steering the business through both the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis.

While the business works through a process to find his successor, Tina Mitchell will take up the role of interim managing director for Waitrose when he leaves later in the year.

“It's been a great privilege to lead this unique and special business and most especially to get to know all the Partners who make it what it is,” said James Bailey, managing director of Waitrose. “I'm very proud of everything we’ve achieved together; it’s been a lot of hard work but very rewarding and I’m so happy now to see the business thriving.”

He went on to say that now Waitrose is “back on a very strong footing” with strong sales growth, record customer numbers, and a turnaround in profitability, it is an appropriate time to hand over the reins to someone else.

Jason Tarry, chairman of the Partnership, said: “James has done an outstanding job, overseeing significant transformation and growth during a period of change. He's a great colleague and has been a highly valued member of the Executive Team. We will be sad to see James go but understand and respect his decision to step down after five and a half years at the helm. James will leave Waitrose in a much stronger position and I know will be missed by everyone.”

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