Luis Feliu
The Mullumbimby-based wholefoods retailer Santos has appointed a replacement for general manager Jean Boussard who resigned suddenly last week in the wake of a fiery meeting of company staff, owners and management days earlier.
Ryan Hamilton, who managed the company’s Byron Bay warehouse for the past 10 years, has been named as interim general manager.
The Santos board of directors issued a brief statement this week saying Mr Hamilton ‘knows Santos intimately’ and would replace Mr Boussard immediately.
The board said ‘everybody at Santos is doing their best’ and it was ‘grateful to all staff
for their openness and dedication’.
The meeting last week involved up to 80 people and was called to address disharmony among staff over the leadership and direction of the well-known business.
During the meeting, Mr Boussard, who was appointed to run the 30-year-old business a year ago, had offered to stay away from Santos’s three outlets and work from home in an effort to ease tensions till a further extraordinary meeting was held.
But that was not necessary as he resigned four days after the meeting.
The board in its statement said it acknowledged ‘the wonderful support for Santos from unit-holders and the community’.