Well damn it all to bleeding heck. Boy wonder and Massmart CEO Grant Pattison, a favourite of ours these how many years (It’s seven. Ed) has upped and thrown in the towel. “Why?” you howl, as we did, “Why?” The theories are legion. The man himself says that having reached the ripe age of 43 it’s time for a change and if his remaining years as a young executive are to be productive ones, that change should be now. Others hint that the Walmart merger has not been without its frustrations and pressures, and that family time beckons. And there has even been word (hard to credit) that Mr P has a future mapped out in the food service industry. One-time rival for the top spot, COO Guy Hayward, will be taking over, effective 1 June, an announcement the markets have greeted with some relief.
Comment: Whatever the future may hold it would be hard to fault Mr Pattison’s tenure at Massmart, where taking over from the brilliant Mark Lamberti he shepherded his charge profitably into food, sustainability, Africa and a partnership with the biggest retailer in the world.