On the move

Cooper joins Woodside board

Recently retired PwC partner Frank Cooper has been appointed to the board of oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum as a non-executive director, from February 1. Mr Cooper replaces Erich Fraunschiel, who has served on the Woodside board for 10 years. Mr Cooper has more than 35 years experience. Before joining PwC, he was a partner at accounting firm Ernst & Young and managing partner of Arthur Andersen, which was absorbed into Ernst & Young in 2002. Mr Cooper is also chairman of the Insurance Commission of Western Australia.

Woodall moves to Fortescue

WA iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has appointed David Woodall as its new operations director. Mr Woodall is the former operations manager of Rio Tinto’s West Angelas mine in the Pilbara and, more recently, has held senior positions at Ivanhoe Mines and Glencore International. He is a non-executive director of Gold Road Resources. Mr Woodall replaces Jamie Frankcombe, who held the role for 12 months and is returning to Sydney to be with his family. Mr Frankcombe is one of half a dozen senior executives who have resigned from the company over the past 18 months.

Carroll heads PwC

PwC assurance partner Justin Carroll has been promoted to the Perth office as managing partner, replacing Nick Brasington, who has been in the role for 18 months. Mr Carroll joined the big four accounting firm in 1991 and was admitted to partnership in 2004. He has worked in Sydney, Singapore and London, specialising in enterprise-wide assurance and business advisory services. Mr Brasington will remain with PwC in Perth to lead the global quality assurance review.

Mannolini switches to Macquarie

Former Gresham Advisory Partners managing director in Perth, Justin Mannolini, has joined rival corporate advisory firm Macquarie Capital. Mr Mannolini’s appointment follows recent Macquarie recruit Mark Barnaba, who is the group’s WA chairman. Julian Mills and Darren Martin have taken over as co-heads of Gresham’s WA office.