Mark Ian Price, Baron Price (born 2 March 1961) is a British businessman, Founder of WorkL for Business and WorkL, Chairman of Fair Trade UK, writer, President of the Chartered Management Institute and member of the House of Lords. He was a former Managing Director of

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

, and Deputy Chairman of the

John Lewis Partnership John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company that operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose supermarkets, financial services and a build to rent operation. The public limited company is owned by a trust on behalf o ...

. He joined the

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

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

as the

Minister of State for Trade and Investment The Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security, formerly Minister of State for Trade Policy and Minister of State for Trade, is a mid-level role at the Department for Business and Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. It ...

in April 2016. On 3 September 2017 it was announced that Price would leave the government; on 28 September

Rona Fairhead Rona Alison Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead, (; born 28 August 1961), is a life peer and businesswoman. She served as a minister of state at the Department for International Trade from 2017 to 2019. Prior to that, she was the last chairman of the ...

was appointed to succeed him.

Early life

Price was born and grew up in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. His father was a

corner shop A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

owner, later a

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

r, and an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

preacher. He attended Crewe County Grammar School for Boys. In 1982 Price graduated from

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

with a 2:1 BA degree in

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. In 1984 Price married Jane Platt at Christchurch Priory in Dorset

Career

He started his career at the

as a graduate trainee in 1982,The Prince's Countryside Fund trustees
/ref> before progressing to become

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

store manager in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

and Cheadle. In 2005, he joined the John Lewis Partnership Board taking on responsibility for strategy as Development Director. In April 2007, the then Managing Director Steven Esom left the Partnership, and Price was appointed as his replacement. At the time Waitrose had 183 stores, and within six years this number had increased to 300. In 2013 it was announced that in addition to his position at Waitrose he would become Deputy Chairman of the

, replacing David Barclay who had held the position since 2006. In October 2015 Price announced he was to leave the John Lewis Partnership in April 2016 after 10 years fulfilling the role of Managing Director of Waitrose. Suggestions had been made saying that Mark may apply for the chairman position of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In February 2016 it was announced that Price would become the new

Minister of State for Trade The Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security, formerly Minister of State for Trade Policy and Minister of State for Trade, is a mid-level role at the Department for Business and Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. I ...

, after the resignation of Lord Maude of Horsham, and that he would be made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

. On 29 February, he was created Lord Price, of Sturminster Newton in the County of Dorset. He left the Government in September 2017. Since 2018 Price has been on the Council at Lancaster University and Chair of Fairtrade U

Price has sat on Coca-Cola Europe's board since 2019. Price became President of the Chartered Management Institute in September 2020. In October 2017, Price founded Engaging Business and WorkL, digital platforms designed to make the world a little happier and help businesses increase employee retention by measuring, tracking and improving organisations' workplace happiness; it offers happiness surveys and career development opportunities for individuals and businesses.

Other work

Price has served as Chairman of

Business in the Community Business in the Community (BITC) is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, Corporate social responsibility, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the The Prince's Charities, Prince's Charities of Cha ...

since 2011 and The Prince's Countryside Fund since 2010. He sits on the Board of Directors of

and the Consumer Goods Forum. He was appointed

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

(CVO) in the 2014 New Year Honours for his work with Business in the Community and The Prince's Countryside Fund. Price is also a Life Patron at GroceryAid. Price has written a number of books on employee engagement including 'Six Steps to Workplace Happiness' and 'Fairness for All'. Price has written a book to help children learn to play chess called The Foolish King. The Foolish King website helps children learn how to play chess in a fun and exciting way.

Personal life

In 1991 Price married Judith Bolt in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

. They live in

Sturminster Newton Sturminster Newton is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish situated on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour in the north of Dorset, England. The town is at the centre of the Blackmore Vale, a large dairy agriculture region around w ...

with their two daughters.

References

External links

Waitrose

Audio clips

Interview on 11 June 2011
on ''The Bottom Line''
Interview on 26 July 2010
on '' You and Yours''

Video clips

BITC in March 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Mark Ian 1961 births Living people Alumni of Lancaster University Alumni of Bowland College, Lancaster British retail chief executives Channel 4 people Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Conservative Party (UK) life peers John Lewis Partnership people People educated at Ruskin High School, Crewe People from Crewe Waitrose Life peers created by Elizabeth II