Special Reports

SUBSTANTIAL investment in new technologies and five decades of combined experience among two senior managers has enabled Alltype Engineering to achieve rapid expansion.  

CENTRAL Systems has had a strong four years, with staff numbers tripling to 175 and turnover growing six-fold as new services have been added and new clients won across a wide range of industries.

MANY tradesmen dream of one day getting off the tools, managing a thriving business, and driving a nice car that’s not a ute. 

ACQUISITIONS and strategic alliances have helped civil construction and maintenance contractor WBHO Civil significantly expand its business operations in recent years.

LITTLE more than a decade ago, a couple of young men from the suburbs started their IT business, sharing a desk in a makeshift workspace, complete with their loyal hound, Bailey the dog.

CLEAN linen on a hotel bed and clean towels in the bathroom, clean seats and headrests on a plane – we expect nothing less. 

The past year has been a whirlwind for businesses that have featured in the Rising Stars awards, with some rising to greater heights while others have faced major challenges.

In McNally Group’s first year of operations, in the 2008-09 financial year, the modular building company turned over $439.

FOURTEEN years ago, Karratha locals Sean and Lisa Clarke had ambitions to establish a vehicle hire business with a fleet of about 50 vehicles.

SIMON Higgins reckons his contracting company, ECM Global Project Partners, is all about growing people and keeping them.

Paul Musca had an inauspicious start in business. While his peers did sensible things like study at university, he preferred surfing, while working as a labourer on drilling rigs.

Congratulations to the 10 winners of the 2012 Rising Stars Awards.

The consolidation of major multinational record labels and rapidly evolving music-sharing technology has shifted the power in the music industry and provided new ways for local independent artists

THE world of commerce may be guided by share values, net assets and project scale, and political power ultimately decided at the ballot box, the business of government is far more opaque – with inf

FIVE years ago when Mathias Cormann took office, assuming the Senate seat vacated by his Liberal predecessor Ian Campbell, the political landscape was very different.

THE political landscape has changed significantly in recent months and, while the shift is not yet tectonic, there is much less certainty around who will be influential as this electoral cycle draw

AS the world enters its fifth year of economic turbulence and even the best-insulated businesses in Western Australia are being affected, the factors that determine business influence in this state

Most of the power and influence in WA is concentrated in the political and resources sectors.

IF trading during their first week is any guide, the hospitality venues in the Brookfield Place heritage precinct will be a major drawcard in Perth.

Newly restored heritage buildings on St Georges Terrace are set to become a showpiece, but architects and developers worry new rules will halt other projects.

Property developers are unhappy with how the National Broadband Network is being rolled out in Western Australia, complaining they are not receiving enough guidance and support from NBN Co.

The rollout of the NBN has begun in WA, but how it ends up will be determined by politics.

Giant liquefied natural gas projects like Gorgon and Pluto dominate coverage of the oil and gas sector, yet there are plenty of other developments under way.

Shell’s development of a world-first floating LNG project off the Kimberley coast is likely to be a game changer for the industry, allowing extensive ‘stranded’ gas assets to be developed.

If you are a ‘glass half-full’ person, the LNG boom has presented great opportunities for local industry, but not everyone is happy.

Western Australia’s huge – if largely unproven – potential to host massive so-called unconventional oil and gas resources has already caught the eyes of some major international energy majors.&nbsp

Changing global markets and local community pressures are crimping the growth prospects for big gas projects but the industry is still in a boom.

Both the federal and state budgets, due next month, are forecast to hold little joy for investment in business and industry.

Numerous major contracts have been awarded to the state’s mining and civil companies, creating a robust job market for contractors.

The state government has committed $5 million towards feasibility and planning studies for a marine common use facility (CUF) in the Pilbara, likely to be at either Anketell or Lumsden Point.

A state infrastructure plan will help Western Australia come to grips with the big development issues.

Demand for energy in WA is big and so is the demand for an open, competitive market.