BAT FEATURE

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B R I T I S H A M E R I C A N T A B A C C O

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S M O K I N G T H Ecompetition

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British American Tobacco (BAT) South Africa is the

local arm of UK-based British American Tobacco (BAT) Group. With over 100 years of history, the firm is South Africa’s largest

manufacturer of cigarettes.By Ian Armitage

British American Tobacco FEATURE

J SE-listed British American Tobacco (BAT) South Africa is a smoking superstar. Part of the

British American Tobacco Group of companies, which operates in more than 180 countries worldwide, it is one of the foremost fast-moving consumer goods businesses in the country.

“BAT South Africa holds a unique position within the global tobacco group,” says BAT’s Radu Dobrescu, formerly Head of Operations in Southern Africa.

He told South Africa Magazine that, not only is BAT South Africa, with 24 brands, one of the company’s largest profi t centres, with an enviable domestic market share of 86 percent, but it is also setting an example of successful cultural and structural change – while investing in becoming world-class manufacturing operation.

In that respect, in the years to 2018, some £150 million has been earmarked for upgrades and improvements to BAT South Africa’s operations.

“In South Africa, the business in its present form was created following the global merger of Rothmans International, partly owned by the Rembrandt Group, and London-based British American Tobacco plc,” Dobrescu says.

In the words of one industry observer, “Without the acquisition of Rothmans International, BAT would have slid off the map of Africa.”

EMPLOYER OF THE YEARIn 2011, BAT South Africa was rated as the ‘Best Employer in South Africa for 2011/12’ by the CRF Institute in its annual Best Employers Certifi cation Index.

The research showed that “BAT South Africa has outstanding HR policies and excellent working conditions”.

The company has built a reputation as a sought-after employer by focusing on employees as people with needs and dreams.

Referencing the company’s work in this area, Clifford van der Venter, BAT South Africa’s HR Director, said in a recent interview: “There’s an underlying belief that it is great people who make great companies great. You can have the best strategies, the best products and the best brands but at the end of the day it’s the people that make the difference.

“One of the things that enables organisations with our kind of history to remain at the top is a constant renewal, and that has to happen through people. So we have made a deliberate decision to go out and fi nd additional talented people.”


British American Tabacco FEATURE

Over the years we have

continued to put maximum effort in growing and nurturing our diverse talent

Transport & Warehousing | Consumer Products | Specialised Freight | Integration Services | Africa

• Largest southern African LSP with established International footprint and reach

• Largest employer of industrial engineers and logistics professionals

• Providing dedicated and consolidated warehousing

• National distribution footprint – Annually, Southern African fleet travels the equivalent of 545 times to the moon and back

• A choice between owned fleet and large sub-contractor base

• Access to the appropriate mode of transport whether air, sea, rail or road

• Supply chain management optimisation and integration through strategy formulation, operations improvement, people alignment and technology enablement

www.imperiallogistics.co.za Tel: +27 11 821 5500

Combining consistent fundamentals with tangible value-add and delivering fast moving, forward thinking logistics and supply chain solutions.

Shifting GearsThe IMPERIAL Logistics Story

Winner of the 2011 Mail & Guardian Greening the Future Awards Companies and Organisations with Innovative Environmental Strategies that Improve Business Performance.



Every year between four to 10 graduates are recruited for a two-year Management Trainee programme.

BAT South Africa makes a similar investment in its Growth Academy, an extensive development programme for existing employees with high potential.

“Over the years we have continued to put maximum effort in growing and nurturing our diverse talent to ensure that we have an excellent leadership pipeline in place. This effort focuses on training and development in the workplace as well as through structured internal and external programmes, aimed at building strong, individually minded leaders who will engage, motivate and inspire our organisation to stand tall in what is undoubtedly a challenging but exciting industry,” said MD, Brian Finch, recently.

CONTINUALLY INNOVATINGBAT South Africa is constantly reviewing, renewing, refreshing and innovating its products, the way it does business, the way it operates and, in particular, the way it goes to market.

Several years ago the company moved to a direct sales model to have more direct interaction with its customers.

Another area of huge innovation is working with the South African Police Service and the South African Revenue Service to crack down on the illicit cigarette trade.

Choosing a display vendor is like choosing a business partner. Our quality, service and attention to detail using the latest technology (CNC routers, laser & diamond polishing machines) ensure your product is the best. If you can imagine it, we can probably make it with our more than 25 years of experience and our in-house design team.

Since its founding in 1985 IMPRESSIVE DESIGNS cc has become one of the leading manufacturers of high quality display and literature products. Our success can be directly attributed to our being an owner managed business, with the owner being supported by an able and enthusiastic team, this leads to attention to detail, prompt service and strict quality control.

Our web page and catalogues refl ect our sincere desire to inform, earn, and keep the trust of our clients and their business.

We look forward to serving our clients’ needs while building a lasting and ongoing partnership with them.

We have a wide - and ever growing - range of quality products, and we also cater for customized speciality products to meet our customers’ requirements, specifi cations and special needs.

Our product range is too numerous and varied for us to be able to mention everything here, but we list details of some of the more popular ones here :-

Standard ProductsSingle & Multiple Brochure holders, Menu & Business Card Holders, Store display, Point of sale units, Ticket holders, Shelf display stands

Special ProductsPerfume and Cosmetic Display, Ticket Holders, Keyrings, Magazine Stands, CD Racks, Photo Frames and Spectacle Display Systems.

Our customers include :- All leading retailers in South Africa, Supermarkets, leading Shopfi tters, Advertising Agencies, Sports shoe companies, Perfume and Cosmetic Houses, Eyewear companies, and many more companies needing to display their goods in Retail Stores and Shops.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE A LEVEL 1 BEE CONTRIBUTER TOGETHER WITH A 1.6 VALUE ADDED BONUS.

If you don’t see what you want here please contact us, because in most instances, if you can imagine it – we can design and make it :-

Phone 021 592 1270 (International 027 21 592 1270)

Fax 086 5811 222 or 021 5916 480 (International 27 86 5811 222 or 27 21 591 6480)

E-Mail [email protected] or

[email protected]

Web page www.impressivedesigns.co.za

IMPRESSIVE DESIGNS


Forging exclusive recruitment partnerships with key clients is proving highly successful for MPC Recruitment and its partner companies, including BAT.

“The relationship can become so effi cient that the agency will proactively track available positions, while also communicating with HR managers throughout the organisation on a regular basis to inform them of available talent, trends, statistics and news in the industry,” contends Hough Joubert, MD of MPC. “The best possible and most well-matched talent, matching the job specifi cation exactly, is presented”.

This partnership strategy is resulting in an increased quality of staff to partner companies with a reduced recruitment cost and a faster turnaround time.

MPC Recruitment


The issue forced BAT South Africa to look at its offering in the low-price segment.

“Every year, over R3 billion in tax revenue is lost due to illegal cigarettes,” BAT South Africa said in a recent press release. “That’s the equivalent of the cost of more than 44,000 new policemen or 60,000 new homes.”

In response, it introduced a priced-marked pack to inform consumers of the recommended price of its lower-priced brands.

WHERE NEXT?In terms of future expansion, the export market, into Africa and the Middle East, remains a key focus for strategic growth and development.

Empowerment is another key focus. BAT South Africa is currently a Level 6 Contributor and has various initiatives and targets in place aimed at improving this score on an annual basis.

The fi rm spends more than R30 million annually on corporate social investment projects, mainly in the areas of empowerment, sustainable agriculture, civic life and HIV/AIDS.

BAT South Africa wants to “smoke the competition” by having its customers light up and keep the fl ame burning. In 2004 it celebrated 100 years of business in South Africa. “Our success in the country was not achieved by accident. The company became a leading business from its inception in 1904 and we believe that we have retained many of the qualities that initially helped place us at the forefront of our industry,” the company’s website says.

To learn more visit www.batsa.co.za. END

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mpcrecruitment

Since 1998, the MPC Recruitment Group has been pioneering and providing an innovative and flexible range of recruitment solutions to many of the largest corporate companies in South Africa. MPC believes that transparency, integrity, trust and an in-depth knowledge of their clients’ businesses are the cornerstones of success. Proof that this philosophy works is that the MPC Group now boasts a national network of branches in major cities, with further expansion in the pipeline.

MPC Recruitment can offer:

In-house business partnerships for complete, partial or project recruitmentNational footprint – 7 branches in major citiesGeneralist agency with in-house industry specialistsFlexible range of permanent, contract and short term recruitment solutionsCertified BBBEE Level 2 status Proud member of APSOFingerprinting facilities in all branches for credit, criminal and qualification verification

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031 562 8001

021 552 8048

011 706 9042

013 741 2593

012 658 0758

041 367 4666

043 748 2098

Johannesburg

Pretoria

Port Elizabeth

East London

Durban

Cape Town

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www.mpc.co.za

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34 Alexander StreetStellenbosch7600

Tel: (021) 888 3500Fax: (021) 888 3423

www.batsa.co.za

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ENQUIRIESTelephone: +44 (0) 1603 343367Fax: +44 (0) 1603 [email protected]

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