Spur loses UK appetite

Perennially profitable restaurant and fast-food franchisor Spur Corp has quietly exited its positions in the UK.

According to Spur’s website, the UK operations were closed in July. The company will now focus its international endeavours on Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

The decision involved closing the Spur Steak & Grill restaurants in Staines, Dublin and Belfast as well as Spur RBW Corby.

While a retreat is always tough to digest, Spur shareholders may appreciate that the company’s British thrust never impinged on the longer-term returns generated by Spur’s core brands in SA.

The conservative approach to international expansion — and, perhaps more importantly, the willingness of executives to swallow their pride in the UK — should go a long way to reassure shareholders that other offshore thrusts will not be to the detriment of Spur’s reliable cash flows and its generous dividend servings.