Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 2, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTom Denyard, a Tesco executive, will become Waitrose's managing director in January 2026, succeeding James Bailey. Tina Mitchell will serve as interim director.
(Reuters) -British retailer the John Lewis Partnership on Tuesday named Tesco executive Tom Denyard as the managing director of its supermarket business Waitrose, effective January 2026.
Denyard is currently leading Tesco Online, before which he held multiple executive roles within Tesco's diverse businesses.
The former Unilever and Marks & Spencer employee will replace James Bailey, who announced in August that he will be stepping down at the end of this month after about five years in the position.
Waitrose, an upmarket grocer, is part of the UK's largest employee-owned business, John Lewis Partnership, which also runs John Lewis department stores.
Under the succession plan, current retail director Tina Mitchell will become interim managing director of Waitrose on September 30 until Denyard takes over.
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
Tom Denyard, a Tesco executive, has been appointed as the managing director of Waitrose, effective January 2026.
Before his appointment at Waitrose, Tom Denyard was leading Tesco Online and held multiple executive roles within Tesco.
Tom Denyard is replacing James Bailey, who announced he would be stepping down at the end of September after about five years in the position.
The John Lewis Partnership is the UK's largest employee-owned business, which includes both Waitrose supermarkets and John Lewis department stores.
Tina Mitchell, the current retail director, will become the interim managing director of Waitrose starting September 30 until Tom Denyard takes over.
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