Mark Beyer

Information management consultant Chris Gentle illustrates the modern face of small business.

The number of small business lobby groups in Western Australia has ballooned over the past year, and while all cover similar issues they represent different parts of the small business community.

Nanotechnology company pSivida has become only the 11th Australian company to complete a listing on the Nasdaq national market in the US.

Labor and the Coalition have traded claim and counter claim during the State election campaign over their credibility as financial managers but the information they have released has mostly left voters none the wiser.

Tax is the number one State government issue for small businesses in Western Australia, a survey by the Combined Small Business Alliance has found.

In a rare moment of candour after last year’s Federal election, former Labor leader Mark Latham acknowledged that his party’s policies had failed to keep pace with changing society.

WA Retail & Small Business Association, CEO Brett Dunstone

STOCKBROKING firm Patersons Securities has joined its listed competitor Euroz Securities in achieving a bumper profit in the second half of 2004, as it benefits from the strong stock market and growth in capital raisings.

Perth debt collection company Repcol has become an unlikely trend setter by 'off-shoring' half its workforce to India. Mark Beyer reports.

THE Perth head office of grocery group Foodland Associated will effectively be closed down if Metcash succeeds in its takeover offer,

Cutting taxes while keeping a budget surplus tops business’ wish list for the next WA Government. Mark Beyer reports.

On the eve of the State election, Opposition leader Colin Barnett spoke to Mark Beyer about his plans for government.

The State Government signed Western Australia’s largest public private partnership two days before Christmas. Mark Beyer dissects the deal.

ADVANCED Nanotechnology, arguably the biggest commercial spin-out from a Western Australian university, has launched a $9 million initial public offering. The IPO values the eight-year old company at $33 million.

OIL and gas giant ChevronTexaco has become the third major backer of the Western Australian Energy Research Alliance, which aims to become a world leader in oil and gas research.

RESI Mortgage Corporation has joined the trend for non-bank lenders and mortgage brokers to establish shop-front offices in Western Australia.

TWO Perth engineers are in the midst of building a new consultancy business after securing a major contract on the giant $US1.8 billion ($A2.5 billion) Goro nickel project, located in the Pacific territory of New Caledonia.

THE Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline generates monthly income of about $23 million and gross profits of more than $16 million a month, a report by former receiver and manager Korda-Mentha has disclosed.

The Japanese banking group that agreed last week to back ailing biotech company Chemeq has an old Perth connection. Mark Beyer reports.

ALINTA managing director Bob Browning has accused the banking syndicate that controlled the protracted sale of the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline of “holding the State to ransom”.

SOME of Western Australia’s best-known companies were fundamentally changed as a result of the big corporate deals of 2004.

CHEVRONTEXACO and Woodside have selected engineering contractors for two of the biggest resource projects coming up in Western Australia.

THE $1.86 billion sale of the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline has been judged by WA Business News to be the top business deal in Western Australia in 2004.

ENERGY reform is likely to be a key issue for Neil Hamilton in 2005, whichever party wins the State election.

SPORT is rarely far from business in the world of Neil Hamilton, who is a huge fan of Australian Rules and Rugby Union football.

Neil Hamilton unexpectedly found himself at the centre of two of the biggest business crises of 2004. He spoke to Mark Beyer about the year that was and his plans for the future.

A NEW scheme designed to help Western Australian farmers gain international recognition for sustainable practices has been endorsed by one of the world’s largest grocery groups.

GROCERY wholesaler Metcash Trading has pledged to sell all of the Action supermarkets across Australia to independent owners should it succeed in its

ACHIEVING early success is one of the key ingredients in Mark Barnaba’s business formula and one he has certainly lived up to at his new merchant bank,

OUTSOURCING by the booming mining industry has been good news for fast-growing Hazelmere company Action Mining Services, which opened new and expanded premises this month.

THE Water Corporation could be forced to modify aspects of its $350 million desalination plant at Kwinana to take account of a new port project planned by Fremantle Ports.

Nanotechnology company pSivida has emerged this year as Western Australia’s largest biotechnology stock. Mark Beyer reports on its global progress.