SPAR Group chairman Mike Bosman and deputy chair Dr Shirley Zinn have resigned from the retailer’s board, citing mounting hostility and alleged threats from some current and former retailers and former employees.

Their resignations take effect on Monday, 17 August.

SPAR said both directors retained the board’s support but had independently decided that leaving their positions was the appropriate course of action, both personally and in the interests of the company.

The retailer said the decision followed a difficult period in which the two directors and the board had faced increasing pressure.

Conduct concerns

In a joint statement, Bosman and Zinn said they believed there was now a significant gap between the standards of behaviour they expected in their roles and the conduct they had experienced from certain current and former retailers and former employees.

The pair said they had faced ongoing personal attacks and hostility, including instances they described as threats.

They acknowledged that criticism and differences of opinion were inevitable when serving on the board of a listed company. However, they said the situation had gone beyond what they considered acceptable.

According to Bosman and Zinn, the level of hostility had reached a point where remaining involved with SPAR was no longer viable for either of them.

They did not identify the people allegedly responsible for the threats and did not provide additional details about the incidents.

Growing retailer tensions

The departures follow a period of heightened friction between SPAR and sections of its independent retailer network.

Bosman previously said that disagreements were unavoidable in a business operating across thousands of stores, while stressing that individual disputes did not reflect the broader relationship between SPAR and its retailers.

His comments came after allegations involving a Pretoria store and other disputes with retailers.

SPAR is also in the midst of a wider turnaround programme following several challenging years. The group has undergone executive leadership changes, exited certain international operations and taken steps to strengthen its balance sheet and lower debt.

Bosman took over as chairman in December 2022 during what SPAR described as a particularly challenging period, marked by serious governance issues that had previously been disclosed to shareholders.

After the retirement of the group’s previous CEO in January 2023, Bosman temporarily took on the role of executive chairman to provide stability while the company established its new leadership structure.

The departure of both Bosman and Zinn now adds another layer of uncertainty as SPAR continues its efforts to rebuild the business and strengthen relationships across the group.

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