Paula Margaret Nickolds (born February 1973) is a British businesswoman. From January 2017 until January 2020, she was the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

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 ...

department store chain.

Early life

Nickolds was born in February 1973. Her father, Clive Nickolds, was a senior director at

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

, and head of its international operations. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, and attended

St Helen's School St Helen's School London is a private day school for girls aged three to eighteen in Northwood, North West London. It is associated with the Merchant Taylors' Company and works in close collaboration with the local Merchant Taylors' School in a ...

where she spent hours in the pool as a keen member of the swimming team.

Career

In 1994, Nickolds joined

as a graduate trainee at their Oxford Street flagship store. In January 2017, she succeeded

Andy Street Sir Andrew John Street CBE (born 11 June 1963) is a British businessman and Conservative Party politician who was the managing director of John Lewis from 2007 to 2016 and Mayor of the West Midlands from 2017 to 2024. He was Britain's first o ...

as managing director of John Lewis; she thereby became the first woman to hold this position in the company's 153-year history. She unexpectedly left the company in January 2020, along with two of John Lewis' most senior, long serving executives, just as it looked to navigate a radical overhaul to merge its grocery and department store businesses. In May 2021, it was announced that she has been appointed by Sainsbury's to run its £7.8bn clothing and general merchandise arm, putting her head-to-head with her former employer John Lewis. In January 2024, it was announced that she was leaving Sainsbury's to become chief executive at The White Company, starting at the end of March.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickolds, Paula 1973 births Living people British businesspeople British women in business