live
How I see it
TANIA WATTON
Owner-Manager of Bank of Queensland, Subiaco
WORDS | Gabi Mills PORTRAIT | Matt Jelonek
Moving east to west
I moved to WA in 1994 from Sydney. St George Bank approached me to move here to establish their private bank in WA. I said yes, despite not knowing anybody in WA and I was put up at the Victoria Apartments next to the Vic Hotel here in Subiaco. The St George head office branch on St Georges Terrace was still being built and painted on my arrival. The decision to move was a difficult one as I was leaving all my family and friends in Sydney but it was a challenge I embraced as I was keen to make a difference. I have always believed that the key to my success 62
SUBIACO: EAT SHOP LIVE
has been by providing good oldfashioned banking and making a difference in people’s lives.
Change is good
In due course, I was approached by Bank of Queensland’s CEO David Liddy in 2004 who headhunted me to set up the first ever branch of the bank here in WA. David had the vision of the Owner-Manager model. It was the first greenfield site in WA and the first BOQ branch here in Subiaco which was where I wanted to be. It was a massive undertaking and I carefully chose the site – an old pharmacy on Rokeby Road. By then my mother in NSW had died, and I was raising two little boys – Joseph, aged two and Daniel, four at the time – on my own. We opened on April 21 in 2006 with no customers but plenty of vision.
Winning ways
By 2007, I won the Owner-Manager of the Year award, Saleswoman and Businesswoman of the Year awards and in 2010, the iiNet Best Franchisee Award.
The local choice
I’m proud that a lot of Subiaco locals bank with us. I think my key strengths are relationship skills and networking. BOQ Subiaco helps many community groups – like St John WA and the Telethon Kids Institute – and through helping people to make connections, we can really make a difference. I love a live show and a good feed, and you can’t beat the Regal for putting on a great show. I often take big groups of guests along too – 16 of us saw Priscilla: Queen of the Desert recently. I’m also a member of WSBA and enjoy making new business
