Dr Tim to step down as Coopers boss
Dr Tim Cooper – instrumental in relocating the Coopers brewery to Regency Park and the company’s interstate success – will retire as managing director after 23 years at the helm.
Fifth-generation Cooper, Dr Tim, today announced he would step down as managing director of the South Australian brewing company on 1 March after nearly a quarter of a century at the top.
He will be replaced by longstanding Coopers employee and current general manager Michael Shearer, who has been with the company in various roles since 2004.
It caps off a long innings running the family-owned, independent brewery for Dr Tim who will stick around at the company on a part-time basis after 1 March.
The outgoing managing director joined the brewery in 1990 to carry on the family legacy and eventually take over running the business from his father Bill.
Prior to that, he was working as a cardiologist in the United Kingdom and at the time told his father-in-law: “If I was run over by a bus there’d be another cardiologist to take my place the next day. But if I come back and look after the Coopers brewery, I’ll be able to hand it on to the next generation”.
“[My father-in-law] said that was ‘a very romantic notion’, but fortunately he did come out to South Australia about 10 or 11 years later and saw the new brewery and said ‘I think you’ve made the right decision’,” Dr Tim told InDaily.
“It’s been a joy to have two different careers, but especially a joy over the last 35 years to work at Coopers.”
Though Dr Tim’s replacement lacks the Cooper surname, the outgoing MD was confident Shearer knew the business inside and out.
“He started off looking after IT resources and then became commercial manager, then got much more involved with our interstate operation – Premium Beverages,” Dr Tim said.
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“He’s been part and parcel of many changes that we’ve made in terms of the structure of the business and he’s been exposed to all of the operations.”
The company will continue to be family-owned and run, with the board – chaired by fifth-generation family member Mel Cooper – having a majority of directors who are members of the Cooper family.
Dr Tim will remain a director of the company and Coopers’ chief brewer, where he will continue to provide his input on brewing and technical matters.
The transition comes soon after the opening of Coopers’ new $70 million Regency Park visitor centre, and amid an increase in beer sales of 1.5 per cent in FY24 while the national beer market continues to contract.
Bill Cooper, Maxwell Cooper and Tim Cooper at Leabrook Brewery circa 1990. Photo: Supplied.
Dr Tim said he hoped his legacy would be the relocation of the brewery from Leabrook to Regency Park in the 1990s.
This move sparked a new era for the company, and under Dr Tim’s leadership Coopers accelerated its sales strategy interstate from 2002. The company’s national market share increased from 1.5 per cent to 5 per cent in the following 15 years.
He also said he felt a “sense of achievement that we got back into malting”.
“It was our intention to get back into malting barley. We had our own malting company up until 2002 which Bill and I decided to sell to help pay debt.
“We completed [the new malting facility] in 2018 and then the most recent development was the visitor centre.
“We’ve had to spend quite a lot of money on expanding the production capability here.”
Another highlight was surviving the Lion Nathan hostile takeover bid in 2005.
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“Our growth did not go unnoticed by our competitors,” he said.
“We faced a hostile takeover bid in 2005, which we endured with the loyal support of our shareholders and a vigorous defence by our legal team.”
He is also the only Cooper to have a beer named after him. Though it’s now a retired product, ‘Dr Tim’s’ was Coopers’ foray into canned beer. The company transitioned that brand into the ‘Original Pale Ale’ green can in 2018.
“The same name as the beer in the bottle and the beer in the keg,” he said.
“It went from 5000 cases a month to 50,000 cases. I had a depressant effect on the sales.”
Dr Tim said Shearer was “an exceptional leader who has been instrumental to Coopers’ growth”.
“I step down knowing that the company is on a steady path and will be in safe hands under Michael’s stewardship.
“Brewing is in my blood and I will continue to work at Coopers alongside my son Iain and the brewing team.”
Shearer said it was an “honour to be appointed as managing director of a great Australian company with such a significant heritage and exciting future”.
“Tim is one of the true legends of Australian brewing. His fearless and inspiring leadership has seen Coopers grow to become the country’s largest independent brewery while remaining authentic and true to its heritage,” he said.
“Under Tim’s leadership, Coopers has cemented its reputation for brewing great tasting, value-for-money Australian beer. In addition to maintaining our strength in DIY brewing products, we have also become a leading supplier of malt and recently diversified into whisky production.
“I look forward to working with my fellow board members, including sixth-generation Andrew Cooper, as well as other sixth-generation Coopers currently within the business. Along with our management team and our dedicated employees, we will continue to build on Coopers’ success in years to come.”
Dr Tim thanked Coopers’ customers “for all their support”.
“We’re fortunate to have a lot of good customers here in South Australia and around the country,” he said.
“I want to thank all those people who continue to love drinking Coopers beer, which I do every day.”
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