While Western Australia’s mining stocks and their investors enjoy a bull run, emerging technology companies with new ideas are finding it harder to attract investor attention.
Technology companies typically emerge from universities and other research institutions, but one WA success story that evolved away from the limelight was ThinkSmart.
Finding the right people to manage Western Australia’s technology companies is like finding a needle in a haystack, according to Titan Bioventures managing director and Phylogica non-executive director Harry Karelis.
The performance of WA's industrial property market during the past 12 months has more than matched the commercial sector, with record sales and rents being generated, although prices are tipped to level out as more supply comes on to the market in 2008.
Patersons Securities posted a record $1.26 billion dollars in capital raisings last year, up more than 50 per cent on the previous year and a result that has returned the Perth-based stockbroker to the top position for equity capital raisings during 2007.
Family-owned furniture company, Burgtec Australasia, has added another accolade to its swag of award wins in recent years, taking out this year’s Western Australian best of the best furniture award for its WA Parliament refurbishment project.
Farmers in some parts of Western Australia may be still reeling from a poor season in 2006-07, but others are looking towards recovery as the 2007-08 harvest nears completion.
The mining industry may be responsible for just 12 per cent of the state’s total water consumption, but mining companies are increasingly recognising the importance of water resource management in their operations.
Hotel group Accor is gearing up for a multi-million dollar refurbishment program of its Western Australian hotels, in addition to the opening of its new $12 million Broome hotel complex.
With Australia set to introduce a national emissions trading scheme (NETS) by 2010, Western Australian businesses are urging the federal government not to rush the design of the scheme and risk disadvantaging the state’s economy.
Every year we hear warnings about puppies bought as Christmas gifts being abandoned once the novelty has worn off. So how about a Guide Dog Puppy Club membership instead?
The head of the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Water Research, Jorg Imberger, is one of the state’s best known scientists, so when he starts talking, smart people stop to listen.
The Sheraton Perth Hotel has unveiled 50 new hotel rooms as part of a yet-to-be completed $20 million renovation, the first major five-star development in Perth for a number of years.
The environmental approvals process remains problematic for industry in Western Australia, with the increasing regulatory standards likely to present a growing challenge for the state’s miners.
Although still primarily a niche market segment, indigenous tourism has grown in popularity of late, particularly among international visitors seeking a more unique Australian cultural experience.
Motor scooters seem to provide a credible alternative to a lot of the transport issues facing modern cities and motorists – they’re cheap to run, they’re more environmentally friendly than cars, and they take up less space on our crowded roads.
If it wasn’t for a girlfriend in Melbourne I probably wouldn’t have come across one of the most outrageous bars I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a glass of wine in.
Ernst & Young is prioritising staff retention as an area of focus for its business advisory services in WA, having recently transferred senior partner and head of the company’s national people advisory business, Bill Farrell, to the Perth office.
One striking example of how local councils are interfering with the intent of Western Australia’s new liquor licensing laws is found on the sleeve of the wine list and menu at the state’s first approved small bar, the Essex St Organic Wine Bar in Fremantl
Gordon Martin has built two major Western Australian companies without having to list on the Australian Securities Exchange, and he has no intention of changing that.
The former directors of uranium explorer Summit Resources reaped multi million dollar windfalls from share options earlier this year, highlighting just how lucrative options can be.
Skills shortages may have beset the corporate sector in Western Australia for several years, but not-for-profit organisations, some argue, have had to cope with added pressures.
There are several ways to define the organisations whose primary objectives do not include making a profit – ‘third’ sector, non-government, community profit, and public benefit are among these descriptions.
By most people’s reckoning, 89 kilograms of paperwork is a lot; yet that’s how much a recent tender put together by community services agency, Anglicare, weighed.
Their clients have been enjoying the share market spoils for a few years now, but Alan and Kylie Brierty’s decision to float the mining and civil contracting business they founded 26 years ago happened more by chance.
