Spar’s Future Prediction After SAP Trouble, IT Chief’s Resignation

Last updated on September 28th, 2023 at 10:02 am

The future of Spar Group Ltd is uncertain after experiencing $95 million software (SAP) trouble and the resignation of its IT chief Mark Huxtable.

Spar (Spar Group Ltd.) is a major South African food and liquor retailer. The company has faced some serious trouble with a software system they spent a lot of money on, around 1.8 billion rand, which is about $95 million. 

This software, called SAP, was supposed to help their operations, but instead, it caused a lot of problems. Because of the software issues, Spar had difficulties delivering goods to their stores on time, and they even lost sales because of it. 

In fact, they lost about 786 million rand in sales during the first half of the year. As a result, their profit dropped by 18% in the six months leading up to March.

Now, their Chief Information Technology Executive, Mark Huxtable, has decided to resign for personal reasons. He was in charge of the technology side of their business. 

However the business has been working on fixing the issues with the software, and stores are slowly getting back to normal.

Spar had also faced some other problems too. Earlier this year, they lost their CEO and chairman due to governance issues.

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Business Model of Spar Group Ltd.

Spar Group Ltd. is a South African company that sells food and non-food products. They have six distribution centers that serve over 2,500 stores in South Africa. 

They have different brands like SUPERSPAR, SPAR, KWIKSPAR, SPAR EXPRESS, PHARMACY at SPAR, TOPS at SPAR, and SAVEMOR. 

Spar sells a variety of products like bakery items, groceries, general merchandise, meat, packaged food, health products, liquor, and building supplies. 

Their goal is to provide quality products at affordable prices. The company wants to create a friendly and family-oriented shopping experience.

What Is Next For Spar Group?

The resignation of Spar’s Chief Information Technology Executive, Mark Huxtable, could cause problems in the short and long term.

In the short term, there might be disruptions because Huxtable was responsible for managing the technology side of Spar’s operations. This could lead to delays in fixing software issues and affect the company’s ability to deliver goods on time. 

In the long term, the absence of a capable IT leader could make it difficult for Spar to adapt to changing its technological operations. This could hinder Spar’s ability to compete in the retail industry, where technology is very important. 

Thus Spar has to find a qualified replacement as soon as possible for the position of its Chief Information Technology Executive, who can not only address the current SAP issues but also make the company’s long-term technology strategy.