(Bloomberg) -- John Lewis Partnership Plc appointed former Tesco UK and Ireland head Jason Tarry to replace Sharon White as chairman of the struggling UK retailer.

Veteran retailer Tarry will take over in September from White, who became the most high-profile Black woman in British retail when she was appointed just before the pandemic. White’s term, which will be the shortest in the partnership’s history, was due to end in early 2025.

The owner of John Lewis department stores and upmarket grocer Waitrose said Monday that Tarry has a “proven track record” in retail. The executive started at Tesco in 1990 and has covered most areas of the business, from grocery to general merchandise and fashion. 

Tarry will now take charge of a retailer that’s seeking to kick-start its performance in a highly competitive UK market, while balancing the demands of physical and online retail. 

The employee-owned partnership has weathered a tumultuous time during the reign of White, a former telecommunications regulator who had no previous retail experience when she was hired. The role quickly became one of the toughest in the sector after the pandemic hit, followed not long after by the worst inflation in decades. Both have hastened changes in consumer shopping trends. 

As only the sixth chairman in the history of the partnership, White has spent much of her time in charge shutting shops, cutting costs, and selling assets while trying to diversify away from retail. A leaked proposal last year which detailed the exploration of plans to raise funds through the sale of a stake in the business caused unrest among the more than 70,000 staff who co-own the business. 

Last month, the partnership returned to profit after three straight years of losses which might indicate some of the pressures have started to ease although it’s still far off a goal of £400 million ($505 million) of profit by 2027-28. The retailer also scrapped White’s plan to generate 40% of the retailer’s profit from housing, financial services and other non-core parts of the business, blaming a tough economic environment. 

Read More: John Lewis Returns to Profit But Staff Denied Bonus Again 

In hiring Tarry to run a retailer that is a favorite of England’s middle-class shoppers, John Lewis has “gone for someone who is retail through and through,” Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said. He added that Tarry will inherit a “constrained balance sheet” and although the partnership’s most recent results marked the end of a period of decline, “they’re not out of the woods yet.”

Tarry will work with Nish Kankiwala, the company’s first ever chief executive officer, who was hired by White last year to boost efforts to turn around the business. He will also work with Peter Ruis, who was recently hired to run John Lewis, and James Bailey, who oversees Waitrose. 

(Adds additional details. An earlier version corrected ownership reference in the third paragraph.)

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