John Lewis has announced that James Prince will become head of branch at its department store in Leeds, set to open this autumn. John Lewis will invest £37m in the 255,000 sqft department store, which will be one of the largest outside London.
James will lead the team of 550 partners at Leeds, the recruitment of which will begin in the next few months. He is currently head of branch at John Lewis Sheffield, but has lived in Leeds for the past four years. He started his John Lewis career eight years ago as an operations manager at John Lewis Liverpool, and prior to his current role he opened the first John Lewis at home shop in Poole as the branch manager.
James has been head of branch at John Lewis Sheffield for the past four years. Over the last two years James has also been chair of the Sheffield BID board and will remain in post until a chair of the newly-elected BID board has been selected.
The retailer will be the anchor tenant of the Victoria Gate development in Leeds' Victoria Quarter. The department store frames the scheme and is a major entrance to Leeds' retail core from the eastern side. Unique to John Lewis Leeds, the striking design of the shop heralds a future architectural classic for the city.
James says: "I'm delighted to be taking on this new challenge and look forward to establishing our shop in the centre of Leeds and in the heart of the local community. I have enjoyed my time in Sheffield, particularly working with the team based here who are a credit to the store. I have also valued being involved in city initiatives such as the Sheffield BID. Leeds is my home and I'm incredibly passionate about this city. I can't wait to recruit a new team of partners and reveal the shop to our customers in the autumn of 2016."
John Lewis Leeds will be the third John Lewis to open in Yorkshire.
