Retail lift for John Lewis – but running partnership owned firms is no walk in the park, says ALEX BRUMMER

A strong, experienced chairman can make a big difference in retail, as Marks & Spencer learned.

The choice of Jason Tarry, formerly of Tesco, to succeed Sharon White as executive chairman of John Lewis looks smart when there are so many different forces plaguing department stores and supermarkets.

White was full of creative ideas and despite strained relations with his partners, he worked hard for five years to turn the tanker around. Over the past year she has restored profitability.

To her credit, she recognized that it was time to step aside and bring a different leadership to the table.

Tarry will become executive chairman, unlike Archie Norman, who is technically an independent chairman of M&S.

John Lewis and M&S may be targeting much the same markets in central Britain, but culturally they are quite distant.

Tarry says he has long been an admirer of the “employment ownership” model. The reality is that his background is very different at Tesco, where bosses have been sun kings and not had to worry too much about including colleagues in every decision.

Suspended bonuses for John Lewis partners mean Tarry will have to demonstrate some subtle engagement skills.

One outstanding issue is his ongoing relationship with CEO Nish Kankiwala, who was brought in last year to give John Lewis more merchandising weight.

There should be concern that an executive chairman may find sharing power difficult. As we have recently seen at M&S ​​with the departure of co-CEO Katie Bickerstaffe, such arrangements can be tricky to navigate.

Tarry’s selection raises the question of whether someone who grew up in founder John Cohen’s Tesco culture of piling it up and selling it cheap will adapt to premium branding at John Lewis. Food department Waitrose, which is currently experiencing a renaissance, is crucial.

But we should never forget that luxury fashion, smart electronics and chic home furnishings are all part of John Lewis’s appeal.

Partnership and co-ownership can be difficult. The recent projection of a decline in profits at the Co-op Group highlights tensions in a competitive food market. Nationwide is facing a popular uprising over a lack of consultation over the £2.9 billion deal for Virgin Money.

Running employee- or partner-owned businesses is not a walk in the park.

Dimon dust

A prediction of stronger inflation and higher interest rates from JP Morgan chairman Jamie Dimon captured the spirit of the times in the US bond markets where interest rates are rising.

There’s a lot to chew on in an action-packed letter to investors from the world’s most enduring commercial banker.

Dimon believes that Basel 3, the rules being devised by central bankers and regulators to avert the next banking crisis, could endanger production by being too restrictive.

He thinks that, given the current geopolitical and economic trauma, this is the right time to rebuild the global architecture with a new Bretton Woods. He has a point.

The World Trade Organization is being devastated by American intransigence and the massive subsidies it provides to bring semiconductor manufacturing to the US.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has just announced that it will increase its total investment in chip manufacturing on US soil from £32 billion to £51.5 billion.

The World Bank and the IMF must rethink the way Russia and China, invited into the inner circle, are abusing the system. The Chinese blockade of debt restructuring in Sri Lanka was an example of this.

The comments from the head of JP Morgan ahead of next week’s spring sessions of the G7, IMF and World Bank should be a catalyst for change. Don’t count on it.

Shell shock

The British green fanatics and the Labor Party need to pause if they don’t want to destroy the British financial ecosystem.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan tells Bloomberg that the valuation gap between London and New York, fueled by European investors’ apathy toward fossil fuels, could prompt Shell to relist in Manhattan.

That would be a huge blow to the city, Britain’s reputation and the country’s tax revenues and dividend payments. Yes!