As you know, SPAR bought an 80% share of an Irish retail outfit in 2014 for €55million and has done rather tidily out of the transaction so far. Little wonder then, that they’re doubling down on the investment in the form of capex on upgrades – by BWG – of around €23million, culminating in the construction of a €5million cash n’ carry in County Louth. The facility will service stores in Louth, Cavan and Monaghan. BWG has announced its intention to grow both its retail and wholesale operations while continuing to provide excellent service to retailers – including SPAR’s and business customers. In the annual results just gone by, you will recall, BWG reported turnover growth of 14.5% to €1.4billion, with a 41% increase in operating profit. Ceteris paribus, as our father is fond of saying, the business is on track to meet its commitment to the investment of €100million into the wholesale and convenience retailing operations over the next five years.

Comment: Verdant pastures indeed.

After a surprisingly downbeat set of results, Woolies’ shareholders, long basking in the reflected glory (and enjoying the generous dividends) of the Dapper One, are beginning to become restive. Thus it is that we find them rebelling in substantial numbers (well, at 18.6%, quite substantial numbers) against both the reappointment of the auditors and also against the remuneration policy at last week’s AGM. Auditors EY have been scrutinising Woolies’ books for 84 years, if you’ll believe us, and according to the pinstriped worthies at the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (Irba), this is quite enough thank you. They recommend that auditors get changed every ten years or so to keep them fresh, and some of the punters, it appears, agree. In other Woolies news, South African CIO John Hunt is heading to Australia to take over the computers and stuff at Woolies’ holdings on that blasted and benighted land mass.

Comment: And perhaps to learn to love the game of rugby once more.

In one of those pointlessly bureaucratic own goals in which our government specialises (and while we’re at it may we please see your unabridged birth certificate), the Consumer Protection Agency has made it all-nigh impossible for well-intentioned retailers and producers of foodstuffs to donate surplus produce or stock to the hungry. The issue is Section 61 of the Consumer Protection Act, which apportions total liability on any business – in the entire supply chain – responsible for bringing to the consumer anything which might cause them harm. This includes food past its use-by date, and that’s where the issue lies. A lot of food past its use-by is still perfectly fine, and if handled correctly by the distributing parties would be a welcome and necessary supplement to the daily nutrition of SA’s poorest. But the fear of liability and court action keeps a lot of potential donors away. Not all, though – Pick n Pay, for example, donates around 2,000 tons annually to Foodbank SA.

Comment: Truly, we have a wonderful set of laws. If we were freakin’ Switzerland.

In further evidence, if more were needed, of the brutality of the global market, RCL FOODS, a business which has done everything right in a tough economy, is being forced to lay off 1,350 of the 2,500 workers at its Hammarsdale production plant. It will be slashing its production by 50% in an environment of high input costs and the rapacity of foreign businesses (notably from the US, Brazil and India) who dump chicken on these shores as markets shrink back home. In August, RCL announced that its headline earnings per share (HEPS) had fallen more than 12% for the year. If things don’t turn around in the next three months, more job losses are possible, despite RCL’s prudent and innovate attempts to diversify out of the vulnerable poultry sector. In the meantime, the share itself has recovered slightly on this week’s grim announcement.

Comment: In another world, shareholders would be penalised rather than rewarded for every lost job.

Globally, Unilever under the leadership of Paul “The Saint” Polman is raising the banner of sustainable business over an admiring field: it currently commands the number one slot in sustainability on Oxfam’s Behind the Brands scorecard. And here at home? Same story: local business follows the global Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), a blueprint used to leverage its products and supply chains to create jobs, decrease environmental impacts and improve health. Through projects like its Lifebuoy Help a Child Reach 5 campaign, its Ola Vendors programme and its water-neutral flagship dry-food facility at Indonsa, the Le Grand Bleu is achieving all that and more.

Comment: When Polman visited these shores in June, he expressed the belief that, in the light of climate change, high unemployment rates and rising inequality, companies could no longer be run primarily for shareholder returns, but should rather focus on building society as a whole. To which we reply, Word.

So S&P Global Ratings followed the commendable examples of Moody’s and Fitch and left our credit rating unchanged on Friday at a nevertheless precarious BBB – one level above junk, but on a par with Italy and India, just to cover the “I”’s. And as if a floodgate had opened, the good news keeps rolling in: The rand has regained 2% against the dollar! Business confidence is up, with executives 10% more confident in the state of things over the next 12 months, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report, than they were last quarter! And (OK we’re scrabbling around here somewhat) the Automobile Association reckons that a fuel price cut could be on the cards for December, take the wife and kids to Margate! On the downside, because there always has to be one, the trade account went negative in October, but even there the deficit was lower than forecast, with exports doing better than expected.

Comment: Let’s go buy a new Hilux! Who is with us?

Listen carefully, it’s tricky but worth it, here goes. The High Court of Appeal in Jozi has thrown out as “opportunistic and contrived” an attempt by the SABC to wrest R7.5million in fines from Game, who it alleged had failed to pay the licenses timeously on 2,500 Samsung TVs ordered from Edusolutions in 2011. Turns out that Edusolutions had not taken delivery of the TVs before the license fees were settled, so the fine of R3,000 per set turned out not to apply. Shrewd But Virtuous Retailer 1, Crooked Mouthorgan of a Failing Regime 0.

And speaking of cheap petrol, which we’re pretty sure we were earlier, in our rambling distracted way, Clicks is offering, well, not cheap gas exactly, but the chance for Dr. and Mrs. J. Citizen to earn cashback points every time they swipe their Clicks ClubCard at participating Shell stations nationwide. Cashback is loaded onto their respective ClubCards six times a year and can be redeemed at any Clicks, GNC or Claire’s store. Clicks, log the gold standard in loyalty programmes, has upped its game again.