Sebastian Richard Edward Cuthbert James (born 11 March 1966) is a British businessman, who was formerly CEO of

Dixons Carphone Currys plc, formerly Dixons Carphone plc, is a British multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company headquartered in London, England. It was formed on 7 August 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone ...

, and is the current CEO of

Boots UK Boots UK Limited (formerly Boots the Chemists), trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and other countries and territories including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand an ...

Early life

The son of

Christopher James, 5th Baron Northbourne Christopher George Walter James, 5th Baron Northbourne, 6th Baronet, DL, FRICS (18 February 1926 – 8 September 2019), was a British farmer and aristocrat. He was one of the ninety hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords aft ...

, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, where he was a member of the

Bullingdon Club The Bullingdon Club is a private all-male dining club for Oxford University students. It is known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club is known to select it ...

with former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, and

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

. He is a family friend of David Cameron and Helena Bonham-Carter. The two were on holiday together in Italy in August 2011 when Cameron had to return to deal with the

London riots London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. James was given a job in government on 5 July 2010, by Education Secretary

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...

, reviewing state school spending. He earned an MBA from

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

in 1991.

Career

James started his career at

Bain & Co Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...

, including being project leader with focus on retail and investment banking systems and transaction management. He was the chief executive of Synergy Insurance Services Limited, and strategy director responsible for developing and implementing the turnaround strategy at

Mothercare Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to eight years of age. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap In ...

. He joined

Dixons Retail Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World (with stores increasingly dual branded 'Currys PC World'), Dixons Travel and its ser ...

in 2008 as development director managing its

Currys Currys (branded as Currys PC World between 2010 and 2021) is an electrical retailer and aftercare service provider operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, specialising in white goods, consumer electronics, computers and mobile phones. E ...

transformation programme, becoming group CEO in 2012. James was appointed CEO of Dixons Carphone in August 2014 following the merger of Dixons Retail with

Carphone Warehouse The Carphone Warehouse Limited was a mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc (previously named "Dixons Carphone"), which was formed by the merger of its former parent Ca ...

. He was recognised as the mobile industry person of the year for his achievements with the merger. In January 2018, James resigned as CEO of Dixons Carphone, to run

, "in a surprise move days before it updates the City on its Christmas trading performance", and was succeeded by Alex Baldock, who had been CEO of the online retailer

Shop Direct The Very Group is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 2005 as a re ...

since 2012. James is a non-executive director of Direct Line Insurance Group plc, and was a trustee of the charities

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

and Techknowledge for Schools. Since September 2018, James has been a senior vice president of

Walgreens Boots Alliance Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is an American-British-Swiss holding company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois that owns the retail pharmacy chains Walgreens and Boots, as well as several pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution companies ...

, and president and managing director of Boots.

Personal life

James married Anna Gregory in August 1998, and they have four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Sebastian 1966 births Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford British people of American descent British people of French descent British people of Greek descent British retail chief executives Bullingdon Club members INSEAD alumni Living people People educated at Eton College Walgreens people Younger sons of barons