Troubled Spur business up for sale

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Sunday May 19, 2013 00:00

 

Spur, touted as South Africa's leading family restaurant chain, had six outlets in Botswana comprising 'steak ranch' restaurants and a pizzeria trading as Panarottis. Three steak ranches and the sole pizzeria were operating in Gaborone and shut down last month in a move affecting more than 70 workers.Public notices filed last week indicate that the liquidator, John Little of Corporate Services, is leading the process to sell Indiana Spur, Apache Spur and Spur Express. The three eateries were located at Airport Junction, Riverwalk and Game City respectively.While Little could not be contacted for comment yesterday, Mmegi Business understands several enquiries have already been made by prospective franchise holders eager to tap into Spur's brand power and profitability. Spur Group CEO Pierre van Tonder was also unavailable at his Cape Town and Johannesburg offices while his mobile phone rang unanswered.In a previous interview, van Tonder had pledged that efforts to reopen the closed businesses would kick off once the liquidation proceedings had run their course. 'We are working with the existing legal framework to see if the businesses can be re-opened,' he said. 'But the liquidation process first needs to take its course, under Botswana law. Please be assured that we will do our utmost to facilitate the re-opening of the Spur restaurants.'Van Tonder added: 'We are working with our ex-franchisee, the various supply chain people and local liquidators to see whether we can resuscitate and facilitate the re-opening of the restaurants.'

According to media notices, ex-franchisee, Carel van der Merwe, has petitioned the High Court for liquidation of the businesses, with those opposing the application required to appear before the court in mid-October.The liquidation process will allow the settlement of creditors' claims and possibly workers' dues.Recently, one of the affected workers, Bogosi Maphane, told Mmegi Business that the closure of the eateries had come as a shock to staff.'We received our salaries on time all the time, except for the last month when we were told we would receive them after the liquidation,' he said.'Senior directors called a general staff meeting for all workers in Gaborone where we were told the franchise holder was filing for liquidation as the business had run into financial difficulties due to inflation, low business volumes and high debts. 'This was a shock because we all thought the business was doing well in terms of customers coming in.'According to the former worker, Spur's pizzeria, Panarottis closed first, followed by the branches at Airport Junction, Riverwalk and Game City. Panarottis opened last year at Airport Junction, proving immediately popular with local diners.For the Spur Group, Botswana has the second highest number of outlets outside South Africa, equal to Namibia and England. Only Mauritius has more outlets at eight.Besides the Gaborone outlets, the group has a presence in Francistown and Selebi Phikwe whose restaurants are said to be thriving.