Woman who closed John Lewis in Sheffield branded 'hypocrite' over call to save UK high street

The boss of John Lewis has faced a backlash in Sheffield after she called for a royal commission to save the UK's high streets.

Dame Sharon White, the chair of John Lewis Partnership, said a new strategy was needed to make the nation's town centres 'once more welcoming places where people want to live, work and spend time'.

Writing in the Telegraph, she said 6,000 shops in Britain had closed over the last five years, with banks and post offices also shutting and 'seemingly endless rows of vaping and charity shops' replacing them.

Two years since John Lewis announced closure of Sheffield store, with the loss of 299 jobs

She called for more to be done to prevent shoplifting and other crimes, and for an independent public inquiry to look at factors including 'unfair' business rates for retailers and the impact of changes in working patterns since the Covid pandemic.

Her words have not gone down well in Sheffield, where it seems people have not forgotten she was the woman in charge when John Lewis announced it was closing its Sheffield city centre store, at Barker's Pool, with the loss of 299 jobs.

In a letter to a customer back then, the company blamed the impact of the pandemic and the acceleration of the switch to online shopping for the decision to close certain stores, including the one in Sheffield.

Sheffielders call John Lewis boss' comments 'galling' and 'hypocritical'

Responding to this week's article in the Telegraph quoting Sharon White, one person wrote: "Rather galling to read this as her company's decision to close its operation in Sheffield has hit the local economy for six."

Another person commented: "What a hypocrite. She closed Sheffield John Lewis having already had SCC (Sheffield city council) change the remaining 40 year lease left to help them stay as it was an anchor store for the city centre. SCC did everything they could to help them stay."

A third person said: "It’s ironic that Sharon White wants a royal commission into the decline of the high street, when two years ago she closed John Lewis in Sheffield city centre which directly contributed to the decline she is now railing against."

And a fourth person stated: "Brilliant! This from a woman who, with no previous retail experience, closed Waitrose and John Lewis stores in many town centres because she wanted the JL Partnership to concentrate on internet sales. I think Sharon White is trying to network herself into a new job."

Plans to transform old John Lewis store in Sheffield city centre

Another person commented: "I don't disagree with this much of this article but ironically Sheffield's profitable John Lewis store, a landmark in the city centre and which would have celebrated 60 years in its city centre building this year, was closed in 2021."

The old John Lewis building in Sheffield, which originally housed the Cole Brothers department store, has been empty since John Lewis moved out.

But plans were recently announced for the developer behind the transformation of Sheffield's Park Hill flats to convert the Grade II-listed former department store into a mixed-use development with independent shops, leisure and a rooftop pocket park.