New business development head at Wesfarmers

Former investment banker Michael Britton will head business development at Wesfarmers, a key role at the Perth head office which has a who's who of past titleholders.

Mr Britton, who has been working with private equity player The Carlyle Group, will fill the vacancy left by Ed Bostock who became CFO of the new Wesfarmers health division.

As business development chief, Mr Bostock led the acquisition of the health division’s main asset, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries, which includes big retail brands such as Priceline Pharmacy and Soul Pattinson Chemist.

Wesfarmers chemicals, energy and fertilisers CFO Aaron Hood has returned to that role after serving as an interim business development executive general manager for the past year.

Mr Britton studied engineering at the University of Western Australia but has spent much of his working life in Sydney, initially at UBS for four years and then Carlyle for the past eight.

The business development unit at Wesfarmers, often working with Wesfarmers-linked investment bank Gresham, runs the ruler over numerous deal opportunities for the group and has been integral to some of its greatest acquisitions.

The division has also been a proving ground for some top executives at Wesfarmers, some of whom have left to run other major businesses.

Current Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott re-joined the group in business development in 2004 before going on to head the insurance division in 2007.

Tim Bult ran the division between 2009 and 2015 before heading the Coles demerger. He became managing director of the industrial and safety division in 2020.

Mr Bult was succeeded by Olivier Chretien between 2015 and 2017. He went into consulting and then health care before becoming chief executive of InvoCare in 2021.

Preceding that was Tom O’Leary who ran the division between 2007 and 2009, before heading chemicals, energy and fertiliser. Mr O’Leary has been chief executive of Iluka Resources since 2016.

Former Emeco managing director Keith Gordon headed Wesfarmers business development from 2003 to 2004 before taking on the chemicals and fertiliser business.

Wesfarmers chief financial officer since 2017, Anthony Gianotti, was at the division from 2004 to 2006.

Liontown Resources managing director Tony Ottaviano was senior manager, business development from 2001 to 2003.

Former Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder, who is currently Qantas and Woodside Energy chair, held the role early in his career at the business, as did former Wesfarmers CFO Gene Tilbrook.