Special Reports

Attention to detail and personalised customer service are the key drivers of James Taylor’s business.

The 2011 40under40 1st Amongst Equals winner is a man for the times who says it’s attitude that counts.

Mark BeyerChairman of judges

THERE’S a bloke in South Australia’s Clare Valley, a grape grower, his name is Martin Smith; apparently he’s over 65 but to tal

Industry leaders say Perth is ready for new hotel developments, but who will be the first to bite the bullet and develop? Emily Morgan reports.

STAFFING and skills shortages are again high on the agenda for Western Australian businesses, and the hotel market is among those industries feeling the pinch.

WESTERN Australia is fast becoming an essential stop on the luxury liner circuit as Fremantle celebrates its busiest cruise calendar since the heady days of the 1970s.

TRAVEL TALK with Richard Weller Winthrop Professor, UWA Director, Urban Design Centre of WA

“REPORTS of my death have been greatly exaggerated” is a classic line that could be applied to building construction opportunities in the office and education markets.

THE state government is evaluating a range of alternative contracting and procurement models in the health and corrective services fields, potentially offering new opportunities to building construction companies.

The outlook for non-residential building construction in WA is weak but the impact on each business will depend on where they sit in the construction cycle.

UNCERTAINTY in the Australian international education sector hasn’t stopped provider Navitas from delivering a $32.6 million profit after tax for the half-year to December 31, up 18 per cent on the previous year.

International educators say they can see light at the end of a very long tunnel.

The sudden departure of the Oswals leaves many questions unanswered.

THE problems besetting the Oswal family’s key Australian interest, Burrup Holdings, have changed the dynamics of a three-way race to meet the next generation of explosives demand as a result of the massive expansion of the Pilbara’s iron ore production

THE landscape has changed for Western Australians who want to be on the boards of national companies, according to some of the state’s leading directors.

Perth’s leading non-executive directors consider the issues that are most important to them.

MICHAEL Smith believes being a Perth-based director helps him juggle time because the four-hour-plus flying time (to anywhere) provides a cocoon for him to get things done.

THE small number of women on the boards of Australia’s leading companies is clearly at the forefront of the minds of leading Western Australian directors.

STOCKBROKING is widely perceived to be a lucrative trade, and that is certainly true for the smarter operators, but what is even more interesting is the highly varied performance of major broking firms in Perth.

GOLD explorer Doray Minerals heads a list of 10 Western Australian companies that delivered outstanding returns to investors who backed their capital raisings during the past year.

Patersons Securities has retained top spot in WA Business News’ annual survey of capital raisings, followed by Hartleys, Euroz Securities and Macquarie Capital Advisers.

THE number of new stock market floats in Western Australia rose sharply last year but the growth was impressive only in comparison with the levels that prevailed in 2008 and 2009.

WHEN Colin Barnett chose to play the states’ rights card just before Christmas 2009 it seemed like a strategy with a hint of desperation.

THE specialist group set up to negotiate with miners the fine print of the revamped mining tax probably has just one job – to keep the industry from again uniting behind a major political campaign like it did for six weeks in the middle of this year.

The mining tax and the accompanying political shenanigans were not the only events of 2010, even though it might have felt like that for many business leaders in Western Australia.

It remains to be seen if the nation’s mining leaders retain their high-visibility profiles on the next stage.

OPPORTUNITIES may abound for many in the resources services sector as the state’s economy returns to full speed, but they are not yet always flowing through to the bottom line.

The return of boom conditions is not delivering an even spread of benefits to the companies servicing the resources sector.

THE growing internationalisation of Western Australia’s resources sector is creating a range of major new challenges for local services companies as they deal with an ever more exotic client base.

HE role of chairman at Australian public companies has traditionally been reserved for experienced industry professionals tired of working in an executive capacity and who are keen to bring an independent viewpoint to the company boardroom.

THE sacking of a provincial health chief in Canada might seem far removed from Western Australia’s public service, but the news that gained global attention shows bureaucrat salaries are a big issue around the world.