Welcome to Derek Painter and Michelle Penman who have recently started at the Karratha Depot.

Derek is the new FIFO Operations Coordinator and Michelle is the new Local Operations Coordinator.

Prior to starting his new role, Derek worked for Go West recruitment agency Blue Tongue as a bus driver, a position he took up after wanting a change from the pressure of the mining and offshore industries where he was a drill and construction supervisor for 25 years.

“Matt at Blue Tongue asked me to apply and I thought why not, I’ll give it a shot and I’m glad I did because I love it,” Derek said.

“It doesn’t have those pressures of the mining industry which you can’t control, but it is challenging because of the growing nature of the depot, so it fits me like a glove.

“I also like the family orientated culture at Go West – many companies I’ve worked for say they are family orientated, but this is the first one I’ve worked for in many years who backs up what they say.”

Michelle lives in Karratha and previously worked for Rio Tinto as a scheduler, moving to Go West because she wanted a new challenge in a busy, local office.

“I’ve always wanted to work for Go West which I had a bit to do with in my previous job at Linkforce Engineering in Newman,” Michelle said.

“I got to know Rick Crawford who is a great operator and thought they must be a good company to work for, so when I saw the job pop up on Seek, I applied.

“It’s a really busy operation, scheduling, invoicing and quoting jobs and I’m really enjoying it.”