Guest speaker, Andy Street joined us for dinner on 11 November at The Hangar, Kesgrave Hall.
Andy has spent his career at the John Lewis Partnership, joining after graduating from Oxford with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 1985. Andy became Managing Director of the John Lewis Division in 2007 and has led the business through times of significant change in both the economy and the retail industry at large.
During this time, John Lewis’s gross sales have increased in excess of 50% to over £4.4bn. It has opened 20 new shops, and the johnlewis.com business has seen annual sales of over £1.6bn making the department store one of the UK’s most respected and successful retailers.
After initial roles in department stores, head office and manufacturing units, Andy became Managing Director of John Lewis Milton Keynes in 1993, followed by the same role at Bluewater in 1998. In 2000 he became Supply Chain Director, followed by his appointment to the Partnership Board as Director of Personnel in 2002. In 2014, Andy was named the ‘Most Admired Leader’ of the year by business magazine, Management Today.
Andy is Chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the body tasked with driving economic growth in the region. He sits on the board of the Department for Communities and Local Government as Lead Non-Executive Director, and is also Vice Chairman of Performances Birmingham Limited, which is responsible for running the city’s Symphony and Town Halls.
In June 2015 he was awarded a CBE for services to the economy, in his roles as managing director of John Lewis and as Chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.
