John Lewis to open new tech hub in Birmingham
John Lewis is to set up a new IT and digital operation in Birmingham which will be the first of its kind for the retailer.
Due to open in September, the new Tech Hub will initially create four engineering roles. In addition, John Lewis will be working with a number of the local universities to establish part-time internship roles for young technologists, with recruitment to begin later this year.
The new employees will focus on developing innovative new technologies and agile ways of working with the existing 500-strong John Lewis IT team. The hub will be an integral part of John Lewis IT delivery.
Paul Coby, IT director at John Lewis, said: “Our new hub in Birmingham is about putting innovation and agility at the core of our business. We chose Birmingham because of the opportunities it offers as a growing tech city with a wealth of skilled technology professionals and world class technical universities.”
The new hub follows the opening of John Lewis’s 250,000 square foot regional flagship store in the city last September.
The retailer’s most innovative department store to date, it will be the first shop to trial new ways of working developed by the Tech Hub. Other locations used to pilot the innovations will include the John Lewis department store in Solihull, an ‘at home’ shop in Tamworth and the retailer’s distribution centres at Magna Park.
