SPAR Taps Into Mobile Technology

LONDON -- SPAR and INTERSPAR customers in Hungary are now able to pay with their mobile phones, the company said in a statement.

In a deal with two of the country's biggest mobile network operators, T-Mobile and Telenor, customers have embraced the option following the launch of the scheme in November 2010, which was supported by an advertising campaign.

In other SPAR news, field marketing/retail services company eXPD8 has appointed SPAR UK Managing Director Jerry Marwood a non-executive director of SPAR UK.

Marwood , a grocery industry veteran, is a board member and one-time chairman of the Association of Convenience Stores and sits on the board of the British Retail Consortium. He was awarded The Grocer Cup in 2007 for outstanding achievement in the grocery industry.

SPAR is the United Kingdom's largest family of convenience stores. The network comprises 2,600 stores across the United Kingdom, all of which are independently owned or managed by people who live in the communities they serve.

eXPD8 Co-Founder Mark Thurgood said Marwood's appointment "will underpin our expansion into grocery, particularly within the convenience sector."