Big four firm’s moving moment

FOR most business leaders, moving premises is a big enough task without tackling both cultural change and reputational management at the same time.

But less than two years into the role as PwC Perth managing partner, Nick Brasington plans to use the big four accounting firm’s move from QV1 to the recently completed Brookfield Place as a catalyst to changing the practice.

Part of the cultural shift comes with moving into a smart new abode, adopting the latest technology and workplace design to go with it. 

PwC has opted for what is known as activity-based workplace, where employees do not have a desk or office of their own; a concept increasingly enabled by mobile technology.

But while his partners and their staff focus on the behavioural change required to gain the full benefit of a new physical layout and the technology that goes with it, Mr Brasington has a broader ambition to have PwC “recognised as an organisation which is making a significant contribution to the success and development of WA and the communities in which we live and work”.

Those words, part of the speeches planned for last night’s opening, offer an insight into how even the once staid world of accounting is innovating, at least at the thought-leadership level.

Mr Brasington is a relative newcomer to Perth, having chosen to move here with his young family less than three years ago after spending most of his career working in eastern Europe and Russia.

Already, though, he has put down roots, taking over as managing partner in July last year and joining the board of his daughters’ school, Methodist Ladies College. 

That latter move helps underscore his five-point vision, which includes:

• Assisting in the connectivity of WA with the rest of the world, especially the nations within Asia and Africa, to bring cultures together.  

• Contributing to the strategic debate and the creation of the infrastructure required in WA for the longer term to “deliver the future for our children and our children’s children and beyond”.

• Helping to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit that creates iconic companies, which will brand our state, not only nationally but internationally.

• Playing a part in developing young people from this state as leaders for WA, the nation and globally.

• Giving back to local communities to ensure WA offers equal opportunity for all.