SPAR Group chairman Mike Bosman and deputy chair Dr Shirley Zinn resign amid board tensions

SPAR Group chairman Mike Bosman and deputy chair Dr Shirley Zinn have resigned from the board, alleging that hostility from some current and former SPAR retailers and former employees had made their continued involvement with the company untenable.

The company said the two directors continued to have the full support of the board but had separately concluded that stepping down was the right decision for them and in the best interests of SPAR.

“While Bosman and Zinn continue to have the full support of the board, taking into consideration the context of the period that both these directors and the board have recently experienced, Bosman and Zinn have separately concluded that stepping down and resigning from the board is the right decision for them and in the best interest of the company,” the retailer said.

In a joint statement, Bosman and Zinn said they believed a misalignment had developed between the standards of conduct they expected and what they had experienced from some current and former retailers and former employees.

“We have been subjected to sustained personal attacks, hostility and, at times, threats,” they said. They said they accepted that disagreement and criticism were part of serving on the board of a listed company but believed a line had been crossed.

“For both of us, that line has now been crossed to an extent that makes our continued involvement with SPAR untenable,” they said.

Neither director named the individuals involved or provided further details of the alleged threats in the statement.

The resignations come after a period of growing tension between SPAR and some of its independent retailers.

Bosman has previously told IOL that disputes are inevitable in a business spanning thousands of stores, while maintaining that individual disputes should not be viewed as representative of the wider group. Bosman made this statement to IOL in June after allegations relating to a Pretoria store and other disputes involving retailers.

The group has been undergoing a broader turnaround following a difficult period that included changes to its executive leadership, the disposal of overseas operations and efforts to reduce debt.

Bosman became chairman in December 2022, at a time the company described as one of exceptional difficulty because of serious governance matters previously reported to shareholders.

Following the retirement of the previous group CEO in January 2023, he agreed to serve temporarily as executive chairman, providing continuity until the new leadership structure was in place.

SPAR said that under his chairmanship, its governance, risk and control environment had strengthened, the portfolio had been simplified and operational continuity restored. It also credited Bosman with maintaining an open relationship with shareholders during the turnaround.

Zinn joined the board as an independent non-executive director in February 2023 and became deputy chair in June of that year.