The managing director of John Lewis is quitting the department store chain less than three years after taking on the job.

Peter Ruis, who is leaving 'to pursue new projects', will be replaced by Will Kernan, former River Island boss and a non-executive board member at John Lewis. 

Ruis returned to John Lewis as the chain's managing director in January 2024, having previously worked as the firm's buying director. 

He was appointed by former chair Dame Sharon White just months before she was replaced by Jason Tarry. 

The update emerged weeks after Tarry warned staff that the department store group's profits were being squeezed by 'really tough' trading conditions. 

In an internal magazine last month, Tarry said it 'will trade into lower sales and higher costs', according to the Financial Times. 

The partnership swung to a pre-tax loss of £21million in the year to January, against a profit of £97million the previous year. The profit drop emerged largely due to £120million worth of one-off costs which mainly related to write-downs in the value of old tech systems.

Sales at John Lewis rose by 3 per cent to £4.9billion, while Waitrose sales jumped 7 per cent to £8.5billion. Overall underlying annual profits across the business increased by 6 per cent. 

The 36-strong department store chain confirmed last month that it had begun a consultation on up to 200 redundancies as it planned to close the desks that operate bureau de change services in 30 stores, and specialist gift wrapping in 25 stores.

No final decision has been taken on the closures, but if confirmed they will take place this autumn.

Last year the chain's parent group, John Lewis Partnership, cut 3,300 jobs, bringing its total headcount down to 65,700. Around 1,500 of those jobs were cut from John Lewis department stores. 

In February, Tarry said the firm was closing down its housebuilding business, scrapping plans to build 1,000 homes across three sites. 

In recent years a number of John Lewis stores have been closed, including sites in Birmingham, Croydon, Heathrow, Newbury, St Pancras, Swindon, Tamworth and Watford.

The group paid its partners a bonus in March for the first time in four years after underlying profits rose. 

Each worker, including the chair, received a bonus equivalent to 2 per cent of salary. 

Ruis staying until early September 

Ruis will remain with the retailer until September 6, while Kernan will take up the job in mid-September ahead of the crucial peak trading period. 

John Lewis claimed the leadership change formed part of an 'orderly succession plan'. 

During his stint as managing director of John Lewis, Ruis has sought to modernise the business and overhauled its century-old Never Knowingly Undersold promise. 

He was also behind the recent launch of the Topshop brand in John Lewis shops, led its Platter restaurant concept and upgrades to its online shop. 

Ruis said: 'After nearly three years of significant investment and modernisation, the business is now on a much stronger footing. 

'I'm so proud of what we've achieved, and there is so much more still to come. I would like to thank our customers, Partners, brands and suppliers for their incredible support and I wish Will the best of luck as he takes up the reins.'

Tarry said: 'Peter has done a fantastic job and will be missed by all of our Partners. He's injected energy and pace into the John Lewis transformation and we are sad to see him go.

'Will is perfectly placed to take John Lewis on to the next phase of development and growth. I'm pleased that we've been able to oversee an orderly succession with Will who knows John Lewis and the team incredibly well from his time on the Partnership's Board.'

Kernan was previously chief executive of River Island, The White Company and Wiggle. He also spent 13 years in various senior posts at New Look. 

Most recently, Kernan has been chairman of furniture and kitchen retailer Neptune, and joined the John Lewis Partnership board as a non-executive director in 2023.

Jonathan de Mello, founder and chief executive of JDM Retail, said: 'Peter Ruis’ exit – relatively soon after rejoining the business - is a blow to John Lewis however they spin it. 

'He deserves credit for steadying the ship after the highly damaging Sharon White era, and for being integral in bringing back the “Never Knowingly Undersold” pledge, which successfully recaptured their core middle class shopper base. 

'However the turnaround was only half-finished, and the sudden timing is far from ideal as the business rapidly approaches the critical peak Christmas trading period.

'Will Kernan potentially has the credentials to continue where Peter Ruis left off, but losing Peter Ruis – at this key time – is far from ideal.'