Charlie Mayfield is chairman of QA Limited, the UK’s leading technology and IT skills solutions provider. He also founded and chairs Be the Business, which is focused on stimulating and encouraging competitiveness, growth and technology adoption in businesses across the UK.
In addition, Charlie is an advisor to a number of private equity firms, including CVC and Exponent.
He was Executive Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership from 2007 to 2020, having joined the Partnership in 2000, with responsibility for business strategy and development for both John Lewis and Waitrose. He led the development of the Partnership's online strategy, including the acquisition of buy.com (which became JL.com and accounted for 45% of sales by 2020) and the Partnership’s investment in and strategic partnership with Ocado, where he was a board director for 5 years. He was Managing Director of John Lewis prior to taking up his appointment as Chairman of the Partnership in 2007.
Charlie began his career as an officer in the army in 1985. He joined SmithKline Beecham in 1992 after business school, and became Marketing Manager for the Lucozade brand, before moving to McKinsey & Co in 1996, where he worked with consumer and retail organisations. He was also a director of FabIndia (a leading Indian retailer based in Delhi) for 5 years until 2018.
He is a Trustee of Place2Be (a child mental health charity) and of the British Museum, where he is overseeing the Rosetta programme, which effect a transformation over the next 10 years. He received a knighthood in June 2013 for services to business.