John Lewis MD apologises for ‘France is finished’ remarks

The head of British retailer John Lewis has apologised after saying France is such a hopeless country where nothing works that investors should pull their money out quickly.

“I have never been to a country more ill at ease ... nothing works and worse, nobody cares about it,” John Lewis managing director Andy Street told a London audience in a dinner speech after his train was delayed from Paris.

A spokeswoman for John Lewis , Britain’s biggest department store operator, said the comments were intended “not to be taken seriously”.

However, Mr Street later issued a statement to say sorry. “The remarks I made were supposed to be lighthearted views, and tongue in cheek. On reflection I clearly went too far. I regret the comments, and apologise unreservedly.”

In a speech in which he advised entrepreneurs with assets in the country to “get them out quickly”, Mr Street described the nation as “sclerotic, hopeless and downbeat” adding: “I have never been to a country more ill at ease . . . nothing works and worse, nobody cares about it.”

The comments were made at an awards dinner in Canary Wharf on Wednesday night, after Mr Street was delayed coming back from a conference in Paris on the Eurostar.

Street, who has worked for nearly three decades at John Lewis after graduating from Oxford University, cast Europe's second largest economy as sclerotic and contrasted Paris negatively with London.

“You get on the Eurostar from something I can only describe as the squalor pit of Europe, Gare du Nord, and you get off in a modern, forward looking station [ST PANCRAS],” he said, adding that he though the food and drink at the London event were better than those he had received in Paris.

Street said the award John Lewis was given in Paris during this week’s World Retail Congress was “made of plastic and is frankly revolting”. “If I needed any further evidence of a country in decline, here it is. Every time I (see it), I shall think, God help France,” he was quoted as saying. “If you’ve got investments in French businesses, get them out quickly.”

The retailer, a favourite of the British middle classes, has no stores in France but has plans to launch a French website denominated in euro.

Reuters, The Financial Times