John Lewis property director steps down

The property director for John Lewis Partnership, Chris Harris, has opted to leave the group in November after five years at the business.

During his time at the company, Harris held responsibility for all aspects of property and maintenance.

He most recently established the firm’s new Build to Rent (BTR) business and had led the work to secure a 500 million pound investment for the concept via a partnership with Abrdn.

In a release, Harris said: “After five wonderful years I’ve decided that the time is right for me to explore new opportunities outside of the Partnership.

“Working for a partner-owned organisation, with purpose at its heart, is very special - and I’m particularly grateful to those partners in the property and BTR teams that I have had the enormous pleasure to work with, have provided me with so much support, and have made sure that we are well set up to deliver our strategic goals.”

In late 2022, John Lewis unveiled its BTR scheme with the ambition to build 1,000 new rental homes across three communities as part of its 2035 net-zero pledge, which has commitments to affordable housing and sustainability tied into it.

The scheme comes in regards to three vacant building lots owned by John Lewis, each of which are set to be redeveloped for the project.