Raymond Ackerman (born 10 March 1931) is a South African businessman, who purchased the Pick 'n Pay supermarket group from its founder. He purchased four stores from Jack Goldin in the 1960s. Raymond Ackerman was chairman until he stepped down in 2010.

Biography

After graduating from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

, he joined the Greatermans group in the Ackermans division in 1951 at the age of 20 as a trainee manager. Ackermans had been founded just after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

by his father Gus, but was sold to the Greatermans group in 1940. Ackerman was eventually offered a position at Greatermans head office in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. In the early 1950s, food retailing supermarkets first began to appear on the scene in South Africa. Norman Herber, chairman of Greatermans decided to start a food retailer called

Checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

. Ackerman was eventually put in charge of Checkers, making a resounding success of the business. Ackerman won the Outstanding Young South African award in 1965, along with

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

and by 1966, at the age of 35, he was the managing director of 85 Checkers stores; however, he was fired in the same year. In response, using his severance pay and a bank loan, Ackerman bought four stores in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

trading under the name Pick 'n Pay. Under his leadership, Pick 'n Pay eventually grew into one of Africa's largest supermarket chains, with a thirty seven billion

Rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...

turnover (2006 figure) and more than 124 supermarkets, 14 hypermarkets and 179 franchised outlets. The Pick 'n Pay Group employs more than 30,000 people in several African countries.

Family

Pick 'n Pay is a business giant run as a family business. His wife Wendy and his four children, Suzanne, Kathryn, Jonathan, and Gareth, all work for Pick 'n Pay or for its charity. On 21 October 2009, Gareth took over his father's duties, and on 1 March 2010, the chairmanship as well.

Consumer rights and community engagement

Ackerman campaigned heavily for consumer rights. He lobbied

Anton Rupert Anthony Edward Rupert (4 October 1916 – 18 January 2006) was a South African businessman, philanthropist, and conservationist. He was born and raised in the small town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. He studied in Pretoria and ultimat ...

for cheaper cigarette prices and with the government over the price of bread. His biggest fight was with the authorities to deregulate gasoline prices, though this was unsuccessful. To keep prices low, the firm imports branded products. The Ackerman family's support for the

Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa was opened in 1956 through public subscription as a memorial to soldiers lost in the Second World War. The suggestion that the memorial take the form of a children's hospital w ...

dates to Gus's involvement in funding its establishment in 1956. In 2006, the Ackermans donated R4 million to the hospital. Pick 'n Pay was very involved with Cape Town's bid to bring the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

to South Africa. On 14 February 2005, the Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development opened in Cape Town to develop business skills and train future managers and leaders for South Africa.

Awards

He received an honorary doctorate in law from

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

in 1986. His alma mater, the

, awarded him an honorary doctorate in commerce in 2001. He was voted 79th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004. In November 2004, the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

named him the only South African among the world's 100 greatest business leaders. In South Africa, he is often ranked with

Harry Oppenheimer Harry Frederick Oppenheimer (28 October 1908 – 19 August 2000) was a prominent South African businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Oppenheimer was often ranked as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and was considered South A ...

and Anton Rupert. Ackerman, together with his wife Wendy were awarded the 2010 David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership in Africa Award by The Synergos Institute Southern Africa office.

Books

Raymond Ackerman published three books on his experiences and with advice for young entrepreneurs. * Ackerman, Raymond: ''Hearing Grasshoppers Jump street . The story of Raymond Ackerman as told to Denise Prichard''. Cape Town: David Philip, 2004. * Ackerman, Raymond: ''The Four Legs of the Table. Raymond Ackerman's simple, straight-forward formula for success as told to Denise Prichard''. Cape Town: David Philip, 2005. * Ackerman, Raymond: ''A Spat to Catch a Mackerel. Key Principles to build your business''. Cape Town: Jonathan Ball, 2010.

Bibliography

* Gerber, Amelda: "Entrepreneurs kry nuwe leerskool. Raymond Ackerman verskaf geld om sentrum by sakeskool te vestig."

Die Burger ''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with ''Beeld'' and ''Volksblad'', it is ...

, 15 February 2005. * Die Burger, 9 March 2006. * La Vita, Murray: "Mister A. moet nou groet." Die Burger, 12 March 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, Raymond 1931 births Living people South African people of British descent Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town South African businesspeople University of Cape Town alumni White South African people