John Browett
Born (1963-12-10) 10 December 1963 (age 60)[1]
Rutland, England
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
University of Pennsylvania

John Browett (born 10 December 1963) is a British businessman and former chief executive of Dunelm Group and Monsoon Accessorize.[2] He was the senior vice-president of retail at Apple Inc. from April 2012 to October 2012.

Early life

Browett was born in Rutland in 1963.[3] He attended Uppingham Community College, a comprehensive school in Uppingham, then Rutland Sixth Form College in Oakham.[1] He studied Zoology at Magdalene College, Cambridge, worked briefly for Kleinwort Benson, and then did an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.[3]

Career

From 1993 to 1998, Browett worked for the Boston Consulting Group, and then moved to Tesco, where from 1999 to 2004 he was chief executive of Tesco.com.[4] In October 2007, Browett was hired as a non-executive director of the EasyJet board.[5] In December 2007, he was appointed group chief executive of electronics retailer Dixons, where he helped to improve the company's poor reputation for customer service, serving until February 2012.[4][6]

In April 2012, Browett took over from Ron Johnson as senior vice-president of retail at Apple in Cupertino, California.[7] In October, Apple announced that Browett was leaving the company, and that a new head of retail was being sought. In May 2019, Bloomberg attributed his departure to his "morale-damaging" efforts following employee firings, cut hours, fewer promotions and a reduction in overtime for staff operating within Apple Stores that led to Tim Cook firing him.[8][9]

In March 2013, Browett was appointed chief executive of Monsoon Accessorize. In his first year in charge the company returned to profitability, with pre-tax profits of £18.1 million in the financial year to 31 August 2013, compared to a pre-tax loss of £2.4 million in the previous year.[10][11]

He left Monsoon in February 2015, and became chief executive designate of the Dunelm Group from July of that year, expected to take over the position from January 2016.[2] In July 2015, he joined Octopus Group board as a non-executive director.[12]

By the end of August 2017, Browett had left Dunelm where he was seen, as with Apple, as a bad fit for the culture of the company.[13] Since 2018, he has been at BillSave UK.[14]

In 2023, he was appointed as a new Chairman of the UK fibre network operator Vorboss, also entering the board of Fern Trading Group.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Shah, Oliver (10 April 2016). "I had to eat humble pie at Apple, but now I'm raring to sell you a duvet". The Sunday Times.
  2. ^ a b "Dunelm names former Dixons CEO John Browett as new boss". telegraph.co.uk. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b Neate, Rupert (31 January 2012). "Dixons boss John Browett swaps Hemel Hempstead for Apple's California HQ". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b Executive profile: John Browett. Bloomsburg BusinessWeek. Archived 29 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Tesco CEO Joins EasyJet's Board | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  6. ^ Rupert Neate (31 January 2012). Apple poaches Dixons chief, John Browett. The Guardian. Accessed 1 February 2012.
  7. ^ John Browett: Senior Vice President, Retail. Apple Inc. Archived 4 May 2012.
  8. ^ [Apple Press Info] (29 October 2012).Apple Announces Changes to Increase Collaboration Across Hardware, Software & Services. Apple Inc. Archived 29 October 2012.
  9. ^ "How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  10. ^ Graham Ruddick (7 February 2014). Monsoon back in the black as former Apple boss boosts sales. The Telegraph. Accessed January 2015.
  11. ^ Tiffany Holland (7 February 2014). Monsoon Accessorize 'back on track' under new boss John Browett. Retail Week. Accessed January 2015.
  12. ^ "Retail veteran Browett joining Octopus board as non-executive". CityAM. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. ^ Conor Sullivan (30 August 2017). Homewares retailer Dunelm parts ways with chief executive. The Financial Times. Accessed 22 October 2017.
  14. ^ Tugby2018-01-05T07:43:00+00:00, Luke. "Ex-Dunelm boss John Browett takes reins at BillSaveUK". Retail Week. Retrieved 22 January 2024.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Jackson, Mark (19 January 2023). "London Business Fibre ISP Vorboss Appoints New Chairman". ISPreview UK. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Vorboss Appoints John Browett as New Chair – Fibre News". 15 October 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
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