Appointments February 9, 2024

Emma Williamson has been appointed by the state government as Government Architect and State Design Review Panel chair. In this role, Ms Williamson would provide strategic advice on built form within WA, directly advising the Planning Minister and Premier on developments and major projects. Ms Williamson has more than 30 years’ experience in architecture and was named a fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects in 2022. She is a partner at The Fulcrum Agency, a creative consultancy she co-founded in 2018, and has served as the design advisory committee chair at the City of Canning for more than seven years. Ms Williamson would take over as Government Architect as Rebecca Moore steps down from the role after three years.

Savills Australia and New Zealand has employed two state directors to be based at its Perth office, appointing Sallese McNeil to the role of WA state director of office leasing and Lisa Jansen as WA state director of asset management. Ms McNeil has been a commercial leasing agent for more than two decades and before this appointment, she worked as the client relationship manager for commercial cleaning service CSA Cleaning for two years. Ms McNeil has also worked as associate director for Ray White Commercial WA and Knight Frank. Ms Jansen also has 20 years’ experience, most recently working senior retail property management roles at Cygnet West for two years, Colliers for more than two years and CBRE for over four years.

Perth-based fitness franchise S30 Studios has recruited two former Fitstop executives, appointing Brendan Hurrell as head of franchising and Alan Myers as strategic advisor. Mr Hurrell is set to relocate to Perth for his role, while Mr Myers would be based in Queensland to assist with the delivery of S30’s expansion plans in Brisbane. Until January, Mr Hurrell was working as Fitstop general manager for New Zealand for 19 months. Before this, he worked at Snap Fitness for more than nine years in Auckland. Mr Myers also worked at Fitstop, serving more than four years with the fitness brand, first as chief operating officer and later as chief executive for Asia Pacific. Before this, Mr Myers worked at Jetts Australia for more than nine years. S30 has 17 studios across WA, NSW, Queensland and Singapore, with six new locations set to open by mid-2024.

FTI Consulting senior managing director Monish Paul has been appointed to the board of St John WA as non-executive director. In addition to his experience as a senior executive at FTI Consulting, Mr Paul also has vast board experience and currently serves as a member of council at Edith Cowan University, P&N Bank non-executive director and Western Power non-executive director. Prior to joining FTI Consulting in July 2022, Mr Paul was the director and managing partner of Adar Consulting for two years. Before this, he spent more than four years as IBM lead partner and 14 years as a partner at Deloitte Australia.

The National Australia Bank announced a shift of leadership as its chief executive of four years Ross McEwan steps down and Andrew Irvine takes over the role. Mr McEwan had led NAB since December 2019, backed by his more than 30 years of experience in financial services, while Mr Irvine had served as NAB’s group executive business and private banking since 2020. Mr Irvine would officially commence his new role as group chief executive and managing director on April 2. Before joining NAB, Mr Irvine worked at Bank of Montreal for more than 12 years, his most recent position being head of Canadian business banking.

The Western Force has appointed Niamh O'Connor as chief executive officer. Born in Ireland, Ms O'Connor moved to Western Australia in 2011 and has worked in a variety of construction and rugby-based roles. Prior to the announcement, she had been working as the club's CEO on an interim basis for four months. The Andrew Forrest-backed Force will play their first game of the 2024 season at home to the Wellington Hurricanes on Friday February 23.

Mount Hawthorn-based Summit Minerals has appointed Gower He as its managing director. The announcement comes just four months after Mr He joined the company as chief executive officer, and it has been confirmed he would maintain the same remuneration and terms in his new role. Mr He gained his mining expertise from roles at Equinox Resources, Red Dirt Metals and Mitsui & Co. Summit Minerals also announced non-executive director Stephen Ross has resigned from the company after two years serving on the board.