Spar CIO resigns amid botched SAP project

Spar Group’s CIO, Mark Huxtable, has resigned from the South African food and liquor retailer, not long after a rocky implementation of a R1.8-billion software system.

The move to the SAP software resulted in various integration and distribution issues that caused interruptions in stock deliveries to stores and lost sales. The SAP software project cost Spar about R786-million in lost first-half wholesale turnover. Operating profit fell 18% in the six months through March.

Huxtable’s departure is for personal reasons and he will leave the Durban-based company at the end of the month, it said Friday in an e-mailed response to questions. The problems with the SAP systems have been worked on and stores are again being serviced, it said.

Spar’s South African national IT executive Brett McDougall will step in to support the team, chairman Mike Bosman said in the e-mail. Huxtable did not respond to requests for comment and SAP said it was unable to comment on behalf of its customers.

Botched SAP project costs Spar R786-million

The grocer has lost a number of executives this year, including its former CEO, Brett Botten, and ex-chairman Graham O’Connor who resigned over governance issues.  — (c) 2023 Bloomberg LP

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