Ljubljana - The Manager Association has picked Igor Mervič as the Manager of the Year for transforming retailer Spar Slovenija from a company with four stores into the country's second largest retailer during his 28 years as director general. He will receive the award on Wednesday.

Mervič led Spar Slovenija between 1992 and the end of 2020, while he is now a member of its supervisory board, and an adviser at the Spar multinational.

In this period, Spar Slovenija has turned into a retailer with the second largest market share in Slovenia and with the third largest market share in the Spar group, behind Austria and South Africa, the association said as it announced the Manager of the Year accolade.

The company now has 111 stores, nine restaurants, 21 partner shops, the online shop SPAR Online, its own bakery and a distribution centre, while the number of employees increased from 120 to 4,877 in the 28 years under Mervič's leadership.

Spar Slovenija finished 2020 with EUR 827 million in revenue and a 10% return on equity, while it also increased its market share during the first coronavirus year.

It more than doubled its revenue from 2004 to 2020, with its profit up from EUR 8.5 million in 2004 to a record EUR 18.4 million in 2013, and to EUR 10.5 million in 2020.

Throughout this period Spar Slovenija set trends in the industry and took part in many socially responsible projects, including Start, Slovenia, the association said.

The association will also give out an award for women who manage to break the glass ceiling to assume top posts in companies. The Artemide award will go to SKB Banka CEO Anita Stojčevski, who has led the bank since December 2019, while starting her career in it in 1995.