Ben Hood steps down as CEO of Fourth

Ben Hood has stepped down as chief executive of workforce provider Fourth, with Clinton Anderson announced as his successor.

Anderson was most recently the president of the hospitality solutions business at Sabre, a global travel technology company.

Hood, founding chief executive of Fourth, said: “While stepping away from a company and customer base that I have grown and been passionate about for over 20 years is never easy, one of the key aspects of a good leader is to know the right time to transition.

"Clinton is the right person to lead the organisation into the future, given his strong experience and proven ability to drive results at scale. The future is bright for this organisation and I will be cheering for its continued success.”

Doug Bayerd, principal at Marlin Equity Partners, said: “Anderson has a breadth of business experience and strategic vision to lead the organisation in the next stage of its growth. This includes a commitment to our people and core values, and a focus on delivering value to both the customer and the end users. On behalf of the board, we look forward to working closely with Clinton as CEO.

“At the same time, we thank Ben for all he has done and wish him well. He has been an exemplary leader during this critical time of transition and of Fourth for over 20 years. We are grateful for his leadership as we brought these businesses together to create a global champion in the restaurant and hospitality software industry.”

Anderson added: “I am truly honoured to lead as Fourth Enterprises’ CEO. I look forward to working closely with our exceptional senior leadership team and all employees as we continue to create and sell products that improve the lives of millions of users. Fourth and HotSchedules have an incredibly talented team that shares a common passion for delivering results for our customers. Together, we will drive innovation and growth by remaining focused on providing our customers with the solutions they need to be successful and providing exceptional experiences for our people.”

In conjunction with this announcement, Fourth Enterprises has also appointed John Whitmarsh as chief financial officer (CFO). As CFO, Whitmarsh brings over two decades of financial management expertise to the executive team, having played a pivotal role in growing multiple private equity-backed SaaS and technology companies.

Prior to joining the team, Whitmarsh served as the CFO of Vyze, which was recently acquired by MasterCard. Previously, Whitmarsh was the CFO for Zenoss, a provider of unified IT monitoring and management solutions for physical, virtual and cloud-based IT infrastructures.

He said: “HotSchedules and Fourth have long served as technology leaders in the restaurant and hospitality industries and I am ecstatic to join the team as it embarks on its next stage of growth.”