John Lewis MD Andy Street named as the UK’s most admired leader
John Lewis managing director Andy Street has been named as the most admired leader in the UK.
Having been at the helm of John Lewis for the last seven years, Street has won the Most Admired Leader Award at Management Today magazine’s annual Britain’s Most Admired Companies Awards.
In conjunction with Birmingham City Business School, Management Today asked the UK’s largest public companies in 24 sectors to evaluate their peers.
Clothing and homeware retailer Next was ranked the most admired company in the Retailers (Broadline/Home) sector and achieved high scores for its quality of management and financial soundness. Next also claimed second place in the overall BMAC list, climbing 20 places from its 2013 position of 32.
Never Miss a Retail Update!In addition to Street’s award, John Lewis Partnership ranked overall first in the BMAC Awards’ free vote. Unrestricted by sector, the free vote allowed respondents to name the company they most admire from across the entire cohort. John Lewis Partnership took almost 25% of the vote, out of 236 companies.
The Most Admired Companies in the Retailers (Broadline/Home) sector were as follows:
| Sector rank | Company | Total | Overall ranking |
| 1 | Next | 72.3 | 2 |
| 2 | John Lewis Partnership | 70.6 | 5 |
| 3 | Dunelm | 59.0 | 78 |
| 4 | Marks & Spencer | 58.6 | 81 |
| 5 | Dixons Retail | 57.0 | 100 |
| 6 | Kingfisher | 55.8 | 118 |
| 7 | AO World | 55.4 | 124 |
| 8 | Home Retail Group | 54.9 | 132 |
| 9 | Wilkinson | 48.8 | 189 |
| 10 | Debenhams | 43.0 | 226 |
Professor Mike Brown of Birmingham City Business School, the author of the Most Admired research, said: “As the economic outlook continues to improve slowly, it’s a year of cautious optimism. Firms know it’s not all Shangri-La and that there are still plenty of bumps in the road, but they are tentatively looking for growth opportunities all the same.”
