{
  "id": 19810556,
  "title": "Phil Roux turns down role on Spar board",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/phil-roux-turns-down-role-on-spar-board-19810556",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-13T12:58:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/business/phil-roux-turns-down-role-on-spar-board/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Turnaround specialist Phil Roux has turned down a position on the Spar board, believing that the company has significant untapped value. Spar's share price dropped by up to 5.02% on Friday morning following the announcement of Roux's decision, but quickly recovered after the company disclosed that Roux had declined the offer. Spar also announced the appointment of its longest-serving board member, Lwazi Koyana, as chair on Thursday night, as well as the appointment of former Massmart and Edcon CEO Grant Pattison as a non-executive director with immediate effect in October. Roux stated that it would be unprofessional to provide reasons for declining the position, only noting that it was not due to the challenge it would have embraced enthusiastically. Spar thanked Roux for his engagement during the process and expressed respect for his decision, stating that they are committed to strengthening the composition of the board and will continue to appoint directors with the appropriate skills and experience. The board changes come after the resignation of former Spar chair Mike Bosman and deputy chair Shirley Zinn on August 17th due to conflict with the guild. Spar's share price has plummeted approximately 75% over the past five years due to various challenges, including unsuccessful expansions to Switzerland and Poland, a failed SAP software implementation, and competition from on-demand delivery services. The guild did not comment on the matter.",
  "summary": "But Roux says he would have approached the role with alacrity",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}