Spur suspends fees to help soften Covid-19 blow to franchisees

The SA restaurant group, which owns brands including Spur Steak Ranches, Panarottis, John Dory’s Fish Grill Sushi, RocoMamas and The Hussar Grill, closed over 600 restaurants on 25 March 2020 in support of President Cyril Ramaphosa's call to isolate and close all non-essential business.

Setting a national example

Group chief operations officer, Mark Farrelly, commented, “We have tried to set a national example by providing our franchisees with significant financial relief because our people are our primary concern. When the President initially announced the coronavirus as a national disaster on 15 March, we understood the impact this would have on our 600-plus franchisees and as Exco we immediately zero-rated franchisee and marketing fees for the second half of March and the entire month of April.”

In a statement released this week, the company said it's "entirely supportive" of the national drive to flatten the curve of the national pandemic and lockdown. "Although tragic in many circumstances, the sentiment is also strongly supported by our franchisee body," the Corporation said.

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Franchisees have been encouraged to look after their staff by making use of available disaster relief resources at their disposal. The company stated that it's also aware that franchisees are in negotiations with their landlords on the challenges of meeting rental obligations.

“This is a humanitarian disaster that necessitates that we all walk this journey together in order to survive”, Farrelly added.

The company ended its statement saying, "We thank you for your loyalty to our homegrown South African brands and we cannot wait to see you all again in happier times."