A discreet coffee with Nick Clegg – so is it next stop Silicon Valley for John Lewis chief Dame Sharon?
- Sir Nick was spotted with Dame Sharon White at French cafe Colbert in Chelsea
They are two of Britain’s most influential and powerful business leaders – but Sir Nick Clegg and John Lewis boss Dame Sharon White seemed keen to keep a low profile as they enjoyed a discreet meeting in London.
Sir Nick, the £2.8 million-a-year president of global affairs for Facebook owner Meta, was spotted ‘in deep conversation’ with Dame Sharon at French cafe Colbert in Chelsea last week.
One onlooker said: ‘They sat together at a window table and talked for at least half an hour. They were sitting near each other and appeared relaxed in each other’s company. What struck me as strange was that, rather than leaving together, they seemed to make a point of leaving separately.
‘Sir Nick left first and pulled on a baseball cap the second he got outside and was greeted by another man, possibly a bodyguard.’
Dame Sharon was spotted emerging from the cafe – opposite John Lewis’s flagship Peter Jones store – around 15 minutes later.
Sir Nick Clegg, the £2.8 million-a-year president of global affairs for Facebook owner Meta, was spotted ‘in deep conversation’ with Dame Sharon at French cafe Colbert in Chelsea last week
Another source suggested the pair may have been discussing future employment opportunities as Dame Sharon will be stepping down as the £990,000-a-year chair of the John Lewis Partnership in February.
‘She is one of the most brilliant businesswomen in Britain, despite the turbulent time she has had at John Lewis, and it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that they might have been discussing a future role for her at Meta,’ the source said. ‘It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that she could be hugely beneficial to Meta because of her vast knowledge and expertise.’
It is understood she and the former Deputy Prime Minister are long-time friends.
Cambridge-educated Dame Sharon is a former head of broadcasting regulator Ofcom and was the first black person to become a Permanent Secretary at the Treasury.
She also worked at 10 Downing Street under Tony Blair and at the World Bank and Department for Work and Pensions.
However, her time at the John Lewis Partnership – which also owns Waitrose – has been difficult.
The group posted losses of £234 million in 2022 and was forced to cancel the annual staff bonus scheme for only the second time since its launch in 1953. Her tenure as chair will be the shortest in the company’s history.
Dame Sharon, 56, is married to economist Sir Robert Chote whom she met in the mid-1990s when both were based in Washington DC.
The pair may have been discussing future employment opportunities as Dame Sharon will be stepping down as the £990,000-a-year chair of the John Lewis Partnership in February
Former Liberal Democrats leader Sir Nick, also 56, left the UK in 2018 to work for Facebook’s billionaire founder Mark Zuckerberg after losing his seat as an MP
He returned to the UK last year after spending four years in Silicon Valley, California. He explained he wanted his family to be closer to his ageing parents.
Sir Nick is married to Spanish-born international trade lawyer Miriam González Durántez, and they have three sons.
Both John Lewis and Nick Clegg declined to comment last night.
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