Mark Beyer

The sharp spike in the price of uranium this year has led to an equally sharp spike in the number of listed companies professing to be uranium explorers or looking to spin-off their uranium assets through new floats

Eight Western Australian companies will disappear from the Australian Stock Exchange this year if all of the current takeover offers succeed, though unexpected developments in some offers could produce a different result.

Agribusiness investment company Australian Growth crashed and burned in June 2003, going into administration less than 12 months after listing on the stock market.

No substance has sparked as much emotional hype and frenzy as uranium.

Australia's weekly intake of skilled migrant has been set to average nearly 2,000 people, according to Immigration Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone.

The recruitment specialists who participated in WA Business News’ skills shortage forum believe the Australian business sector has failed to fully explore migration options.

THE Gallop Government’s plan to appoint former state development minister Clive Brown as head of a new skills development taskforce has met with a muted response from industry, which is seeking tangible and prompt action.

The shortage of skilled labour in Western Australia has worsened significantly over the past three years to record levels, in sharp contrast to the rest of the country where the problem has passed its peak.

The Motor Trade Association is planning to ask the State Government to implement a $5 annual levy on motor vehicle registrations to fund an industry training scheme.

The Federal Government should open Australia to more skilled migrants and do more to help industry utilise existing options for bringing in skilled workers, industry representatives told the WA Business News skills shortage forum.

A WA Business News boardroom forum on Western Australia’s skills shortage has found the problem remains acute and more needs to be done by government and industry. Mark Beyer reports.

Woodside chief executive Don Voelte has defended the limited Australian content on the North-West Shelf venture’s $2 billion train 5 expansion, saying the company had “no option” but to send the work offshore.

The global nature of the mining sector has been reflected in the local audit market, with Paladin Resources the fourth major Western Australian company to appoint a new auditor this year.

Mining companies are changing their focus on tyres from cost to extending their working life as the lack of quality supply looms as another threat to new projects.

Herdsman Fresh Essentials has the rare distinction of being a mid-sized food and grocery market that is able to draw loyal customers from a wide sweep across Perth’s western and northern suburbs.

Architecture firm The Cox Group has beaten international competitors to win a major university project planned for the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

Western Power is hoping to recoup some of the heavy losses from its ill-fated foray into the telecommunications sector by selling its Bright Telecommunications venture.

Norwegian company Dyno Nobel has taken charge of the Dampier Nitrogen project on the Burrup Peninsula, which has been on the drawing boards for several years but has been restructured several times.

The number of companies in Western Australia’s electricity generation market is continuing to grow, with a new report detailing more than a dozen projects currently under way or planned.

A major international review has found no empirical evidence to support the corporate governance ‘best practices’ supported by organisations such as the Australian Stock Exchange and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Clough is looking to move to 100 per cent ownership of its Osborne Park-based subsidiary Covus Corporation, which provides specialist underwater engineering and associated services.

Australia has a long history of entrepreneurial business leaders who stamp their personality on their companies. Mark Beyer and David Gibson examine the role of executive chairmen in light of recent controversies at three prominent WA companies.

Evans & Tate executive chairman Franklin Tate has made a passionate defence of his company’s corporate governance practices and its commercial prospects.

The $11 billion Gorgon gas project has announced plans to award engineering contracts that are expected to pave the way for substantial local industry participation in the project.

Employers will face new administrative responsibilities and additional legal risks following the introduction this week of superannuation choice, which allows most employees to select their own superannuation fund.

Edith Cowan University vice-chancellor Professor Millicent Poole doesn’t mince her words when talking about the impact of “biting federal reforms” on t

A start-up company formed to commercialise one of Western Australia’s most promising home-grown technologies has closed down its operations after the owners concluded they would not be able to achieve commercial success.

Curtin University and the State Government have each provided a financial boost for the commercialisation of new technology developed in Western Australia.

Listed winemaker Evans & Tate expects to report a loss of between $4.8 million and $7.5 million in the current financial year after writing down the value of its wine inventory and one of its subsidiaries.

Accounting firm BDO is experiencing a generational change with the retirement of its most senior partner, Geoff Brayshaw, and the appointment of its first female partner, Michelle Shafizadeh.

The property and construction industry has created many powerful and influential Western Australians, none more so than Multiplex founder John Roberts.

The two most influential public servants in Western Australia, newly appointed Under Treasurer Tim Marney and Acting Director General of Health Neale Fong, are both far removed from the traditional image of career bureaucrats.