Co-Founder of Fermentum and Stone & Wood, Jamie Cook has revealed his plans to step back from day-to-day executive duties and retire to the role of Chair of the Fermentum Board in December this year.
Fermentum has asked Stone & Wood Managing Director, Ben Summons, to step into the CEO role at Fermentum, and he has accepted that offer.
Cook told TheShout that while he is looking forward to “lots of adventures and travel both in Australia and overseas”, he would be remaining in his role as Chair of the Independent Brewers Association (IBA).
“There’s a lot to do at the IBA,” he said, “and this will give me a little more time to focus on it.”
In speaking about his decision to step down, Cook said: “Many years ago I made a promise to myself that I would use this milestone to reset my priorities to give more time to myself, my family and adventure whilst winding back from a day to day working life – or adjusting the ‘blend’ in my ‘work life blend’ so to speak.
“In keeping with this promise I will be stepping back from my day to day executive duties at Fermentum.”
He added that the Fermentum board was delighted to see Summons take on the new role.
“In the three years Ben has been the Managing Director of Stone & Wood Brewing Co he has developed a highly engaged team who have developed and executed their plans which has seen that business grow by 100 per cent over that period. He is now well prepared to step into the broader role of leading the entire family of Fermentum businesses.
“The Stone & Wood/Fermentum chapter of my working life has provided me with the most challenging but rewarding 13 years of my career. I am so fortunate to have shared this journey with Brad and Ross as co-founders and the whole team as traveling partners.
“Sharing these exciting last years of my full time career with an awesome family of dedicated hard working people filled with youthful enthusiasm has kept me younger than my years and made it an absolute pleasure to come to work every day.
“My role as a founder was to embed my knowledge, wisdom and passion into the foundation stones of the business, and as I step back, I look forward to seeing everyone else in the team to continue to build upon that foundation.”
Summons’ move means that he won’t be remaining in his role at the Managing Director of Stone & Wood, Cook added: “We are yet to work through the changes that will be made as a consequence of his move at year end. Any further changes as a consequence of Ben’s appointment will be worked through over the coming months and will be communicated once they are finalised at year end.”