CHARLIE MAYFIELD

Few reputations appear as steady as that of the John Lewis Partnership (JLP), set up by John Spedan Lewis in 1929, on the eve of the Great Depression, when he transformed the draper's firm set up by his father in 1864 into a radical, profit-sharing group. Although smaller than the big boys with which it competes the JLP is one of the UK's top 10 retail businesses, with 28 department stores and 219 Waitrose supermarkets. It turned over L8.2 billion in 2010, on which it made a pre-tax profit of L367 million. It has 76,500 'partners' and holds a unique place in British society. So, in the good name game, JLP is without equal on the high street or online. As chairman, Charlie Mayfield is the keeper of that reputation's flame. Mayfield learned some of the problems of leadership very early. A public school boy educated at Radley College, he shunned university and decided to go straight into the army.