Just champion

11 November 2011

Sally Gunnell, former Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic champion, knows a thing or two about self-belief – it's what underpins every success she's had, on and off the track. That's the message Sally is now bringing to Partners across the business in her role as an ambassador for Partners in Sport.

Changing times 27 January 2012During his long career Waitrose's Retail Director has seen the business transformed by technology.
Just champion 11 November 2011Sally Gunnell is not only backing Team GB, she's also ambassador for the Partners in Sport scheme.
Eastern star 02 September 2011Local boy Noel Saunders is MD of soon-to-open John Lewis Stratford City in London's East End.
Man of The Hour 05 August 2011Ben Whishaw, star of BBC series The Hour, talks to Jacqueline Mair about fame, fear - and student funding.
Women of provenance 14 May 2010Heather Jenkins, Director, Agriculture Strategy at Waitrose, tackles the big issues in farming and sustainability.
West End woman 23 April 2010Judith Mayhew Jonas, the woman heading up the £1.5bn regeneration of London's West End.
Sharp outfit 19 March 2010Peter Ruis, has brought in labels such as Oasis and Ted Baker to improve John Lewis's fashion offer.
Firm believer 19 February 2010The financial crisis has challenged conventional business thinking. Is the Partnership model the way forward?
More than words 18 December 2009Gorilla author and illustrator Anthony Browne's picture books are available from John Lewis.
Sea change 25 September 2009Neil Canning's paintings, inspired by nature, embolden the walls of John Lewis Cardiff's Place to Eat.
A fitting role 18 September 2009Head of Retail Design Kim Morris on why fitting out a shop is a fine art.
Keeping counsel 15 June 2009Patrick Lewis, great-nephew of the John Lewis Partnership's Founder, Spedan Lewis, on his new role.
Sporting chances 31 October 2008A new initiative aims to support Partners of all abilities – from keep-fitters to Olympic hopefuls.
Carsten's calling 08 August 2008Buyer Carsten Skovgaard is introducing more premium products to men's branded casualwear.

Highlight

The commercial potential of business archives was recognised in July with the launch of a National Strategy for Business Archives at the House of Lords. Judy Faraday, the Partnership's Archivist since 1996, helped produce the strategy, which aims to encourage wider and better business sector management of archives.

The Partnership's own archive, held in a temperature-controlled room in Stevenage, includes ledgers, photographs, items of merchandise – anything that throws light on the business’s history, or the pre-Partnership history of individual branches. It is also an important resource for external researchers, from the BBC looking at Nineteenth century advertisements to PhD and MA students from the UK and abroad. Judy herself has just been awarded an MPhil for research into 'Women Managers in the JLP 1918–1950', which was sponsored by the Partnership.

'Most people have a family-history box where they keep things that help them understand their background and that have helped mould them,' says Judy. 'The archives are the Partnership's family-history box.'