Hampson slams private equity

John Lewis Partnership chairman Sir Stuart Hampson has waded into the private equity debate, accusing the funds of jeopardising the health of the retail sector and the wider economy with a short-termist approach.

In an exclusive interview with Retail Week, Hampson attributed John Lewis's success to its stable ownership structure.

'One of the things that worries me deeply in British business is that rewards are geared principally to breaking up businesses. The private equity debate is about high rewards coming from taking a business and stripping it to its bare minimum,' he said.