Outgoing Spur CEO Pierre van Tonder says he will miss the people he worked with when he retires. Photo: Lerato Maduna
- Spur Corporation
CEO Pierre van Tonder is stepping down after 24 years at the helm.
group through many successes, and some challenges, including the global
financial crisis – but says even that might have been better to navigate
than the Covid-19 pandemic.
slowing down anytime soon, as the “young 60-year-old” believes his
experience can be leveraged to add value in other organisations.
Pierre
van Tonder was still in school when he took on his first job as a waiter to
earn extra money.
He joined
Spur in 1982 as a junior restaurant manager and became CEO in 1996.
Under van
Tonder’s leadership, Spur expanded its brand portfolio to include Italian food
chain Panarottis, burger joint RocoMamas, steak restaurant The Hussar Grill and
seafood restaurant John Dory’s. It now boasts more than 640 restaurants in
South Africa and has a presence in 20 countries.
The
addition of RocoMamas and The Hussar Grill were particularly positive for the
group’s performance. The June 2019 annual results showed
the brands RocoMamas and Hussar Grill grew restaurant sales by 7.5 and 13.4%,
respectively.
‘The UK
was a big disappointment’
But, said
Van Tonder, there have also been some “failures”.
“The
UK was a big disappointment for me,” he recalled.
Spur closed
its UK-based operations in 2016 to focus on its alternative international
markets, including Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. But van
Tonder said there was positives about the UK business, and these were
introduced to the South African business.
The Australian
business was also disappointing, said van Tonder.
“It’s
been a continuous drain for us, not only financially but also from a support point
of view, mentally,” he added.
In the
previous financial year, Spur reported declining sales for its Australian and
New Zealand operations following the closure of three restaurants, Fin24 previously reported.
“I
have had my highs and my lows.”
Van
Tonder credited his experience on the restaurant floor as being invaluable to
his later career in management.
“I
was fortunate enough to join Spur at a very young age. I learnt from the back
door to the front door. It always gives me a sense of passion for this industry.”
Accordingly,
he advised anyone joining the restaurant industry to understand the dynamics of
the restaurant floor, kitchen and controls.
“You need to understand all of that because you need to make strategic decisions at a higher level. If you do not understand that, you would be making the wrong decisions and the impact on the restaurant floor could be considerable.”
That understanding helped Van Tonder steer the group through
considerable turbulence. He led the group through the 2008 global financial
crisis, but he believed the impact of Covid-19 was worse.
“I would take 2008 before
2020,” he told Fin24.
“There is no question in my mind, Covid-19 is worse.”
According
to a trading update issued in May, the group’s restaurant sales during March
and April “slowed dramatically” as a result of the lockdown. Trading
was halted from 26 March when the lockdown was implemented. Following the
announcement of the national state of disaster earlier in the month, sales for
the two weeks between 16 and 31 March declined 75.7% compared to the prior
period.
The group
essentially did not earn any income between 27 March and 1 May.
“The
whole dynamic is different,” Van Tonder said of Covid-19. Restaurants had
to close temporarily, no liquor licences and social distancing also changed
dynamics.
He added
the way restaurants operated would certainly change, and there was now a
growing emergence of technology platforms such as online food delivery,
home-prepared meals and delivery only restaurants or virtual kitchens.
“If
you do not look at the technology platform and think of how to do business
differently, I think you are going to be left behind.”
Van Tonder
said the industry would recover, but would probably operate in a new normal,
adding those entering the industry should also understand how it would operate
in the “new world”.
He added
people would continue to go to restaurants, as long as they could be assured
safety measures were in place.
Learn to
listen
A major
lesson he has learnt in his career was the importance of listening.
“People
are very important to your learning process, especially the team members you
work with within your company.
“One
of the most valuable lessons I learnt in my business career is to always to
listen to the opinion of other people – whether you agree or disagree.”
Van
Tonder said his engagements with franchisees have been beneficial in his mapping
out a strategy for the group.
He will
miss the interactions with the team he has worked with over many years,
including the franchisees.
“Each
and every one of them has had a special role to play in the success I have had,
and I will miss them. It is very difficult to walk away after many, many
years,” he said.
But van
Tonder is not yet ready to slow down, and sit by the sea or go fishing, as he
put it.
“I
am a young 60, and I am sure that I can add value in other businesses,” he
said.
