Aurivo has confirmed that Stephen Blewitt is due to leave the co-op in November after 21 years with the organisation.

Blewitt, who joined Aurivo in 2006, was appointed as the general manager of the co-op's dairy business in July 2018.

He also became a member of the co-op’s six-person executive team.

Blewitt took over as general manager of the agribusiness unit in 2016.

Prior to joining Aurivo, he held a number of sales, marketing and operational positions with Tesco, Kavanagh’s SuperValu Group and Aldi.

Aurivo

Commenting on the news of Blewitt's departure, Donal Tierney, chief executive of Aurivo said: "Stephen has made a significant contribution to Aurivo over more than two decades, including through his leadership of the dairy business and as a valued member of our executive team.

"We thank him sincerely for his longstanding commitment, leadership and service to Aurivo and wish him every success for the future."

The co-op confirmed that Blewitt will continue in his role until November and will work with the Aurivo executive team to "support an orderly transition".

A succession process is now set to get underway.

Appointment

Last Friday (August 7), Aurivo announced the appointment of a former Dairygold Co-op chief financial officer (CFO) as its new chief executive.

JP McGrath will take over from late September, succeeding Donal Tierney, who will retire following a 15-year career with the co-op, including seven years as chief executive.

McGrath is an experienced senior executive with an extensive background in the food, agri-business, renewable energy and manufacturing sectors.