An executive at Pick n Pay for 15 years until 1999, Gareth headed up various divisions and served as Joint Group Managing Director and the Managing Director of Pick n Pay Group Enterprises. He was appointed to the Board in 1990 as an executive director, until becoming a non-executive director in 1999. From 2002 to 2010 Gareth was Chair of Pick n Pay Holdings Limited, which at that time was the ultimate holding company of the Group. In 2010 he was appointed non-executive Chair of Pick n Pay Stores Limited.

Among his other involvements, Gareth is co-chair of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa and is previous co-chair of the international Consumer Goods Forum. He is also a trustee of the Masisizane Fund and was a member of the international board of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He chairs the Ackerman Family interests.