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John Lewis boss 'to run for West Midlands Mayor job' | John Lewis boss 'to run for West Midlands Mayor job' |
(35 minutes later) | |
John Lewis has confirmed managing director Andy Street is "interested in running" for the office of the Mayor of the West Midlands. | John Lewis has confirmed managing director Andy Street is "interested in running" for the office of the Mayor of the West Midlands. |
Mr Street will apply to be the Conservative mayoral candidate. | |
Should Mr Street be selected as the party's choice, he would step down from his John Lewis role, the firm said. | |
Mr Street, who also chairs a body responsible for driving economic growth in the region, has led the department store chain for nearly a decade. | |
He was brought up in Birmingham and joined John Lewis in 1985 as a graduate from Oxford University. | |
Mr Street has overseen a 67% increase in sales at the department store chain - to £3.7bn last year - since he became managing director in 2007. | |
The news comes after months of speculation about Mr Street's political debut. | |
If selected by the Conservatives, he will be up against Labour candidate Siôn Simon, MEP for the West Midlands and a former Birmingham MP. | |
"Should Andy be successful in his application, he has agreed with the chairman that he should step down from his role and a further announcement will be made to confirm the succession plan for the future leadership of the John Lewis brand," the John Lewis partnership said. |
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