Release date: 29 May 2024
West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has appointed Matt Cook as its new Deputy Chief Fire Officer.
Matt previously served as the Interim Deputy Chief Fire Officer at Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service and will join the service later this year.
His appointment comes following the retirement of current Deputy Chief Fire Officer Mark Andrews in June following more than 30 years of service.
Matt said: “I am honoured to have been appointed as West Sussex’s new Deputy Chief Fire Officer and am very much looking forward to taking up the role later this summer. I would like to thank Mark Andrews for the service he has given to West Sussex as Deputy Chief Fire Officer. I know the service will miss him greatly and I would like to thank him for the work he has carried out throughout his career and wish him well in his retirement.”
Matt began his career with Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service in 2001 as a firefighter based at Hightown Fire Station in Southampton, before transferring to London Fire Brigade (LFB) in 2006 where he served as Station Manager at Whitechapel Fire Station. He rose to the rank of South East Deputy Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for 26 fire stations. He also served within the brigade’s strategy and risk team and leadership development where he developed the LFB Behavioural Framework.
During his time at LFB he supported the inquests of the 7/7 bombings as an Investigating Officer, and also attended the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
He left LFB in 2022 to take up the role of Assistant Chief Fire Officer at Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service where he led on People and Corporate Services before being appointed as Interim Deputy Chief at the service in September 2023, giving him responsibility for Prevention, Protection, Response & Resilience, Collaboration, and Emergency Planning.
Matt added: “It is a really exciting time to be joining West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service. The service is incredibly ambitious to be the best that it can be and I am really keen to be a part of that journey of transformation.
“What is already clear to me is just how passionate the service is about the communities that it serves; it takes its responsibilities around public safety extremely seriously and wants to make a real difference to the lives of the people that live and work in West Sussex.”
West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue, Duncan Crow said: “I am really pleased to welcome Matt as West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s new Deputy Chief Fire Officer. He joins the service at an incredibly exciting time, not least following the recent opening of the service’s brand new training centre and fire station for Horsham, Platinum House. The service has carried out a lot of work to deliver upon its improvement journey in recent years and continues to go from strength to strength. We very much look forward to welcoming Matt to the service later this year.”
Chief Fire Officer Sabrina Cohen-Hatton said: “We are delighted to appoint Matt as our new Deputy Chief Fire Officer as we work together to deliver to deliver the priorities set out in our Community Risk Management Plan to ensure people across the county are kept safe. Matt brings with him a wealth of experience from across the fire service sector over many years that will ensure that he is able to help lead West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service to be a fire and rescue service that we can all be proud of.”
