Sir Andrew Charles Mayfield (born 25 December 1966) is a British businessman. He was Chairman of the

John Lewis Partnership John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company that operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose supermarkets, financial services and a build to rent operation. The public limited company is owned by a trust on behalf o ...

from 2007 to 2020, and was also Chairman of the

UK Commission for Employment and Skills The UK Commission for Employment and Skills was a non-departmental public body that provided advice on skills and employment policy to the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills closed in Mar ...

until its closure in March 2017. He previously served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

as an officer.

Early life

Mayfield was born on 25 December 1966, to Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Mayfield. He was educated at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

, a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

boys school in Oxfordshire. He followed in his father's footsteps and joined the military after leaving school rather than attending university.

Career

Military career

Mayfield graduated from the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

in 1986, winning the

Sword of Honour The ''Sword of Honour'' is a trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh which loosely parallel Waugh's experiences during the World War II, Second World War. Published by Chapman & Hall from 1952 to 1961, the novels are: Men at Arms (Waugh novel), ''M ...

as the best cadet on his course. On 12 April 1986, he was commissioned into

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

, as an Ensign ( Second Lieutenant). He was given the Personal Number

service number A service number or roll number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they also may be used in civilian organizations. National identificati ...

523391. On 12 April 1988, he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. During his career he served in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

amid

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. He was 19 when he was first posted there. He retired from the British Army on 30 September 1991.

Business career

In 1992, Mayfield graduated from the

Cranfield School of Management Cranfield School of Management, established in 1967, is a business school that is part of Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. Cranfield School of Management is triple accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA), EQUIS and AAC ...

with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(MBA) degree. He joined

SmithKline Beecham GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, w ...

as assistant product manager of Instant Horlicks. He was later promoted to Marketing Manager for the

Lucozade Lucozade is a British brand of soft drinks and energy drinks manufactured and marketed by the Japanese company Suntory. Created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle pharmacist, William Walker Hunter (trading as W. Owen & Son), it wa ...

sports drink Sports drinks, also known as electrolyte drinks, are non-caffeinated functional beverages whose stated purpose is to help athletes replace water, electrolytes, and energy before, during and (especially) after training or competition. The eviden ...

brand. In 1996, he joined

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

as a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

. During his time there, he worked with consumer and retail organisations. In 2000, he joined the

as head of business development. He was appointed to the Board one year later as Development Director. He was appointed managing director of

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

in 2005. In 2007, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. In March 2007, he became the fifth Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. in November 2010, Mayfield was appointed to the

, a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

, as Chairman. This post dissolved in March 2017 with the closure of the Commission. On 7 November 2018, Mayfield announced that he would be stepping down as Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. He was succeeded by Sharon White at a meeting of the John Lewis Partnership Council on 4 February 2020.

Honours

Mayfield received the General Service Medal with "Northern Ireland" clasp for his service during

Operation Banner Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007, as part of the Troubles. It was the longest continuous deployment in British military history. The British Army was initia ...

. In the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...

, it was announced that Mayfield had been appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

(Kt) for services to business. On 7 February 2014, he was knighted by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

(on behalf of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

) during a ceremony at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

. On 17 July 2013, Mayfield was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University (D.Univ) by

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. He was presented the honorary degree of

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

(D.Sc) by the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

on 10 July 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayfield, Charlie 1966 births Knights Bachelor British business executives People educated at Radley College Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Scots Guards officers John Lewis Partnership people Living people Businesspeople awarded knighthoods