John Browett (born 1963) is a British businessman. Between January 2016 and August 2017 he was
chief executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the
Dunelm Group
Dunelm Group Plc is a British home furnishings retailer operating throughout the United Kingdom. One of the largest homewares retailers in the United Kingdom, The company headquarters are based in Syston, England. It also has its own factory for ...
. From March 2013 to February 2015, he was chief executive of the British clothing retailer
Monsoon Accessorize
Monsoon Accessorize is a British private limited company. It operates two international retail clothing chains – Monsoon and Accessorize.Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
Early life
Browett was born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
in 1963. He attended
Uppingham Community College
Uppingham Community College is a mixed secondary school located in Uppingham in the English county of Rutland.
It was previously a community school administered by Rutland County Council. Uppingham Community College then briefly became a ...
, a comprehensive school in
Uppingham
Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ep ...
Oakham
Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...
. He studied
Zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
at
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
, worked briefly for
Kleinwort Benson
Kleinwort Benson was a leading investment bank that offered a wide range of financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Two families, the Kleinworts and the Bensons, founded two different merchant banks in L ...
, and then did an
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
at the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private Ivy League rese ...
in the United States.
Career
From 1993 to 1998 Browett worked for the
Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by rev ...
, and then moved to
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
, where from 1999 to 2004 he was chief executive of
Tesco.com
Tesco.com is an electronic commerce website operated by Tesco. It offers a wide range of other products, including electronic goods, books, broadband and financial services. Tesco closed their Tesco Direct website in 2018.
History
Tesco has ope ...
.Executive profile: John Browett Bloomsburg BusinessWeek. Archived 29 January 2015.
From 5 December 2007 to 20 February 2012 Browett was group chief executive of the troubled electronics retailer Dixons, where he helped to improve the company's poor reputation for customer service.Rupert Neate (31 January 2012) Apple poaches Dixons chief, John Browett ''The Guardian''. Accessed 1 February 2012.
In April 2012 Browett took over from
Ron Johnson
Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Se ...
as senior vice-president of retail at
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
in
Cupertino, California
Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...
.John Browett: Senior Vice President, Retail Apple Inc. Archived 4 May 2012. On 29 October 2012 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.pple Press Info(29 October 2012 Apple Announces Changes to Increase Collaboration Across Hardware, Software & Services Apple Inc. Archived 29 October 2012.
In March 2013 Browett was appointed chief executive of
Retail Week
Retail Week is a London-based news website, data service, events producer and magazine covering the retail industry, primarily in the United Kingdom.
History and profile
Founded in 1988 by financial journalist Patience Wheatcroft and her husban ...
''. Accessed January 2015.
He left Monsoon in February 2015, and became chief executive designate of the
Dunelm Group
Dunelm Group Plc is a British home furnishings retailer operating throughout the United Kingdom. One of the largest homewares retailers in the United Kingdom, The company headquarters are based in Syston, England. It also has its own factory for ...
from July of that year, expected to take over the position from January 2016. 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.Conor Sullivan (30 August 2017) Homewares retailer Dunelm parts ways with chief executive ''The Financial Times''. Accessed 22 October 2017. Since 2018, he has been at BillSave UK.
History of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc., originally named Apple Computer, Inc., is a multinational corporation that creates and markets consumer electronics and attendant computer software, and is a digital distributor of media content. Apple's core product lines are the ...