An NAHS committee member has met with the Chairman of John Lewis.
Sir Charlie Mayfield visited the Northamptonshire market town of Daventry as guest of NAHS/Bira committee member, Cheryl Thallon. During his three-hour tour of the town centre, he was welcomed into Sheaf Street Health Store before a bite of lunch at Bread & Circus artisan bakery, both co-owned by Cheryl, who is also the founder Viridian Nutrition.
Sir Charlie Mayfield is the Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, which includes the Waitrose supermarket chain. He was the Government appointed Chair of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills from 2010 to 2016 and Chair of the British Retail Consortium from 2014 to 2016 and was knighted for services to business in 2013.
Cheryl explained: “I met Sir Charlie at a meeting of the British Independent Retailers Association, which was exploring the opportunities and challenges of 21st century retailing. I was describing the newly formed Daventry Retail Forum, and he showed great interest. Within a few days, he had scheduled to visit Daventry.”
The Daventry Retail Forum is a loose alliance of 80-plus independent retailers with the ambition to increase footfall in the town centre, by creating and connecting with local events and boosting social media awareness via Discover Daventry.
Further collaboration is planned for the Daventry Retail Forum and Sir Charlie Mayfield via his ‘Be the Business’ programme.
