Lawyer Sue Wilson has seen plenty of changes at Bankwest and Western Power.
AS head of the Bankwest’s in-house legal department with the official title of general counsel and company secretary, Sue Wilson is in no danger of being thought of as a wallflower.
Ms Wilson cut her teeth in an in-house role with Robert Holmes a Court at Bell Group, then went on to become a partner at law firm Parkers before joining Bankwest 16 years ago; in that time she has also sat on the board at the bank and at Western Power.
Flexibility was what drew Ms Wilson to the role, and it is what has kept her in the company for a large part of her career.
“Partnerships and children and part time was all a bit difficult in law firms back then,” she says. “The thing I have liked about it (Bankwest), right from day one, is the fact I could work part time and still get offered this role.
“When I came here I looked down the phone list, and it is still the same; half the people seem to be on maternity leave, career breaks, or work part time. I thought it was great, it was exactly what I was looking for.”
Ms Wilson joined Bankwest shortly after it was renamed (from R&I), so her career has tracked many of the major changes at the bank.
“Although I have been in this job for a long time, because of the changes in ownership and the organisation it has been like having a different job every two or three years,” she says.
When she started in a part-time role as a member in the legal team, the bank was still owned by the state government.
“Within a year we were bought by Bank of Scotland, and half the shares were floated to the public,” Ms Wilson says.
“I got this job (general counsel and company secretary) in 2000, and at that stage we were still owned half by the public and half by the Bank of Scotland
“That had its challenges, and then in 2003 they re-bought the minority so we were then wholly owned by HBOS.
“That was a really exciting time; we were expanding on the east coast, we were owned by an international bank and everything was possible.”
The GFC halted that expansion and ultimately led to the Commonwealth Bank buying Bankwest.
“That was a really interesting period; CBA only bought part of Bankwest (in 2008) so they only bought the Bankwest and St Andrews’ businesses and the other HBOS Australia business stayed with what is now Lloyds,” she says.
“I think at the time it was just a relief to be bought by CBA and be owned by an Australian bank, which on the face of it had done really well during the GFC.”
As one of the bank’s executive committee members and a board member during the days of the GFC, Ms Wilson employed lessons learned during her time on the board of Western Power, during that company’s tumultuous years of 2003 to 2006.
“I went on to the board after the decision had been made to disaggregate. David Eiszele had left and Stephen van der Mye had just become the CEO of Western Power, and then there was a power crisis at the beginning of 2004 and he subsequently left,” she says.
“We appointed a new CEO and the disaggregation was put on hold for 12 months and ultimately Tony Iannello, who used to work here and who I actually worked for, he came in as the MD and ultimately the disaggregation happened after that.
“It was a great board. Neil Hamilton was the chairman, Jenny Seabrook who is now on our board was there, Harvey Collins who is now our chairman came in as the interim CEO and stayed on the board.
“The fact I had been on the Western Power board and we had had a crisis when we were at Western Power ultimately helped me at that stage to know you can work through it, and how to work through it and the things you do to make sure you come out the other side of it.”
Ms Wilson eventually resigned from the Western Power board, with mounting pressure in her role at Bankwest with HBOS’ expansion plans.
She plans to return to boards at some stage, however.
Ms Wilson is taking part in the Australian Institute of Company Directors first Pipeline Project, which aims to build up a strong pipeline of female directors in Australia.
“In 10 years’ time it would be nice to be having a look at different boards and bring the experience I have had here and on Western Power to different organisations,” Ms Wilson says.
‘Flexibility’ is a word that often comes up when Ms Wilson discusses her role, but she adds that achieving a balance between work and personal life has been difficult.
“The most challenging part of my career was getting the work-life balance right particularly when the boys were younger and I was travelling two or three times a month at times. I missed them a lot and some days I didn’t feel I was doing either role very well,” she says.
“However I was very fortunate to have great support from my husband and wider family, as well as from the people I worked with, particularly those I reported to. That made an enormous difference and things have become a bit easier now the boys are older – although I still miss them every time I get on a plane.
“I think whether a company is successful is all about not just doing what is legally correct but doing the right thing, and I would like to think that I have influenced the way Bankwest operates and that I have helped create the culture at Bankwest, which I love and we have managed to continue through the various owners.”
