Mike was appointed chairman of the board on 1 March 2019. He is an independent non-executive director of AVI, MTN South Africa and EOH Holdings, and serves on the audit and risk committees of these companies.

He is non-executive chairman of Vinimark, the largest independent wine distribution company in South Africa. Mike has a background in advertising and in corporate and project finance. He served as CEO of communications groups FCB and TBWA as well as CEO and later chairman of One Digital Media.

Shirley is an acclaimed human resources practitioner who has held senior positions in the corporate and public sectors. She holds a doctorate from Harvard University and was formerly the head of human resources at Woolworths Holdings, Standard Bank South Africa, Nedbank Group and the South African Revenue Service. She currently provides consulting and advisory services in human resources, transformation, leadership and education. Shirley serves on the boards of Sanlam, MTN South Africa, Afrocentric, AdvTech, WWF as well as V&A Waterfront, on which she serves as Chair.

Cora is a chartered accountant with extensive board experience. She is a non-executive director of Tiger Brands, Capitec Bank and Sphere Holdings, and serves as an independent trustee on retirement funds in the Allan Gray stable. She serves on the investment committees of 27Four Black Business Growth Fund and the National Empowerment Fund. Cora previously served as managing director of Sanlam Investment Management and CEO of Sanlam Private Equity.

André spent most of his career with the SAB/SAB Miller group and was managing director of SAB Miller’s Africa and Asia portfolio for 10 years. He is currently a non-executive director of Distell (lead independent director) and Carozzi SARL, a leading food company in Chile. He previously served as chairman of Tiger Brands and Remgro’s TSB, and on the boards of SAB plc, SAB Ltd, AECI and Standard Bank.

Jesmane is a chartered accountant with private equity, high technology and entrepreneurial experience. Jesmane is Managing Partner of private equity firm AIH Capital. She was formerly head of business engagement for Africa for the World Economic Forum, based in Switzerland, and currently serves on the boards of EOH Holdings and Murray & Roberts. She is chairperson of Dubai-based ETG Inputs Holdco. Jesmane was nominated as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2013. Jesmane is the author of a book on diversity and inclusion My Blood Divides and Unites.

Lerato is the lead independent director of the SA Reserve Bank, acting chair of the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency and member of the Remuneration Committee of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. Over the past 25 years, she attained extensive experience across a myriad of functional areas such as strategy formulation, communications, marketing corporate social investments, stakeholder relations, black economic empowerment (BEE), administration, governance and policy development and upliftment of the broader African continent. She was formerly CEO of General Electric South Africa, executive vice president of Lonmin plc and held senior positions in corporate communications, public affairs and corporate social investment, and worked in the Departments of Labour and Transport, Old Mutual and Sanlam.

Sandile is a non-executive director of the SA Post Office and previously served as a board member of the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants. His business experience is mainly in the areas of structured funding and leveraged finance in business banking at First National Bank, private banking at Investec and financial management at British American Tobacco and Peninsula Beverages.

Val is a highly experienced strategist and leader, who has extensive experience in the restaurant sector and was formerly managing executive of franchise brands Wimpy and Steers at Famous Brands.

Starting her career in marketing and advertising, she has served as marketing director of Edgars between 1994 and 1998, senior vice president of multinational food company, Rich Products Corporation, and managing director of Tequila Advertising. She has also consulted to Nando’s Chickenland and was one of the leaders of the Nando’s advertising account team while at TBWA.

Val joined Famous Brands in 1999 as marketing director of Debonairs Pizza and later served as managing executive of Wimpy (then 506 restaurants) and Steers (then 492 restaurants) before her appointment as head of QSR Brands. Val has run her own consulting business for the past eight years, specialising in business strategy and planning. Her consulting clients have included companies in the healthcare, agricultural, fashion and food sectors.

Cristina has 12 years’ experience as a CFO in listed companies and was voted Businesswoman of the Year (corporate category) by the Businesswomen’s Association of SA in 2013. After qualifying as a chartered accountant, she joined Group Five and was appointed as CFO in 2008. Cristina has led finance teams that have been consistently recognised in the Investment Analysts Society annual awards for reporting and disclosure, and in the Institute of Chartered Secretaries/JSE reporting awards.

Kevin has been with the group for 30 years. He started as an OPS Manager in Spur JHB, and was soon promoted to a Regional Manager in KZN. Kevin also assisted the group in both the development and operations of our international arm in Mauritius, Australia and the UK. Kevin was appointed managing director of Panarottis Pizza Pasta in 1999. In 2011 he was appointed as the national franchise executive. Kevin was appointed chief operating officer of Spur Steak Ranches in 2018. He was appointed as group chief operations officer with effect from 15 October 2020.