The success of Star Retailers has been recognised repeatedly by Spar, and Ravi has won all the major Spar awards, including:
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Regional SuperSpar of the Year (Starwood 2014)
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National SuperSpar of the Year (Starwood 2016)
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Regional Spar of the Year (St. George's 2017)
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KZN Mr. Spar Award (2017)
The Mr. Spar Award is the most prestigious award for a Spar retailer, and in his typically humble style, Ravi points out that the award was won not only by him, but by his team who have been loyal to him and have shared his vision and strategy throughout the years.
Ravi's team is very close and it is through teamwork and respect that he has achieved such success. He is very hands-on, and believes in leading by example on a daily basis. He has a passion for store design and new innovations and has personally been involved in the design of each of his stores.
Ravi is also currently introducing new strategies to ensure that his stores are eco-friendly, with solar power, LED lighting and advanced refrigeration cooling systems to reduce the carbon footprint and consumption of power.
He is also considering vertical integration in the stores and introducing his own branding.
Star Retailers has a strong commitment to staff upliftment through in-house training in addition to the standard Spar training, and employs three full-time accredited facilitators. Ravi views his role as to empower senior management to achieve the goals of the organisation, and to impart his vision to his management, and the business is based on relationships of respect, honesty, trust and accountability.
Sound financial principles mean the business runs on positive cash flow and is virtually debt-free, and sophisticated IT systems integrate the tills, stock and accounting systems for accurate daily financial reporting.
The business sources fresh produce from organic farms, and office systems have minimised paper utilisation with electronic reporting, automated reconciliations and all cardboard and plastic packaging is recycled.
Community involvement has priority from day one, and giving back and helping the less fortunate is something that is very close to Ravi and Serena's hearts. Star Retailers assists multiple feeding schemes and outreach programmes including community centres, schools, rural ethnic festivals and temples.
Each store has a charitable donation budget and staff and management activity visit the programmes for the underprivileged that they support.