Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has been crowned king of Retail Week’s Power List after a stellar year in the UK, which included the launch of Amazon Fresh.

Bezos was revealed as the most powerful person in UK retail at a glittering reception last night in Knightsbridge, London for Retail Week’s 2016 Power List, in partnership with Ecommera, Olswang and Smart Focus.

He rises from second place as Amazon, the company he founded more than 20 years ago, becomes an indomitable force in UK retail.

The etail giant now takes about 20% of all UK general merchandise sales and, according to investment bank UBS, it pocketed a quarter of all UK non-food growth in 2015.

Bezos snatches the Power List top spot from last year’s leader Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James, who is in second place after a stellar year in charge of the electricals supergroup. The £10bn merger of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse in 2014 is already paying dividends and James raised the group’s full-year profit forecast in January following strong Christmas trading.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe rises to third on the list following his successful bid to buy Home Retail. Coupe, who also helped Sainsbury’s outperform its big four grocery rivals over the year, has jumped 10 places on last year.

Grocers rise up the list

Last year, there was an absence of grocers in the top five of the Retail Week Power List for the first time in its history as the sector plunged into crisis. However, Tesco boss Dave Lewis joins Coupe in the top five as all the major grocers edged up the list.

Morrisons chief executive David Potts and the Co-operative’s Richard Pennycook are also notable risers. The ascent of the grocers acknowledges the successful efforts to stabilise these businesses in a turbulent sector, where the price war continues to rage. 

Read the Retail Week Power List 2016 in full

To view the list in full visit Retail-week.com/PowerList and also read our feature on the prevailing trends influencing this year’s Power List.

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