Mark Beyer

ONE month after completing the sale of its 50 per cent shareholding in Plan B Financial Services, BankWest has launched its own financial planning business.

COMMISSIONING problems on a $35 million waste treatment plant have led to a split between engineering group Clough, its technology partner Bedminster and the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council.

CREDIT managers attending a conference last week had to deal with the fallout from a struggling telecommunications company.

PLANS for industrial development on the Burrup Peninsula have taken an unexpected twist, with two groups of companies now competing for one project.

TWENTY-ONE years after establishing Sons of Gwalia, Peter and Chris Lalor are starting to prepare for a final departure.

THE State Government has warned that it may prosecute employers who repeatedly fail to pay the correct award wages to their staff.

A SECOND successive year of investment losses has nearly wiped out motoring club and insurance group RAC’s annual profit.

TRADE payments by Australian industry have fallen to an average of 47 days, the lowest level in four years.

The financial planning industry assembled last week for its annual conference. Mark Beyer reports on an industry striving to lift its game.  

Thin Technologies and mBox have very similar histories but their future prospects could not be more different. Mark Beyer reports on two intriguing takeover battles.

THE Federal Government’s revised corporate law reforms have received a cautious welcome from accountants, auditors and company directors.

A SURVEY of small business has found that many organisations fail to regularly implement simple debtor management practices.

Western Australia’s major non-bank lenders should be thriving in the midst of a booming housing market, but Mark Beyer finds a mixed record.  

BURSWOOD shareholders will get a chance to have their say on new shareholder, Kerry Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, when the gaming company holds its annual general meeting later this month.

THE Department of Agriculture has achieved big financial savings on its way to winning an environmental award for fleet management.

THE provision of additional infrastructure support is emerging as a key issue for planned industrial projects on the Burrup Peninsula.

FORMER property developer Tony Fini has unveiled an ambitious plan to establish a new tourism venture at his family’s olive grove near Gingin, north of Perth.

Nearly $100 million has been invested in olive groves in Western Australia over the past few years. Mark Beyer and Chris Leitch look at some of the looming challenges as the industry matures.

PERTH’S newest set of barristers’ chambers, to be known as Garns-worthy Chambers, will be officially opened on Friday.

NOT many businesses have a client base as diverse as Oakvale Capital. Its clients range from international grocery group Foodland and mineral sands miner Iluka to health fund HBF, the Qantas staff credit union and the Congregation of Christian Brothers.

In the final part of our cash flow management series, Mark Beyer looks at finance options.

FOR corporate lawyers Geoffrey Grice and Rupert Lewi, the return to Perth has been smoother than for many other professionals.

THE rising value of the Australian dollar risks putting a big dent in the State Government’s budget figures, Treasurer Eric Ripper said this week.

Dozens of talented young people leave Perth every year for the excitement and opportunity of bigger cities. But there is also a steady flow of returnees. What brings them back? And how do they cope with ‘Dullsville’? Mark Beyer reports.

In part three of our series on cash flow management, Mark Beyer looks at the role of technology.

ONE of the common laments of people wanting to return to Perth is that there aren’t enough good opportunities in the local business sector.

THE management team leading the buyout of broking firm Hartleys is planning substantial growth over the coming six months as it moves toward completion of the transaction next month

THE Water Corporation has launched a business improvement program that is likely to lead to further staff cuts.

COMPANIES worried about corporate fraud have recently been given stark reminders about the magnitude of the problem.

AFTER 19 years working in high finance in London, Simon Withers has used his return to Perth to make a clean break.

A FEDERAL parliamentary report has added its voice to calls for tangible action, including tax concessions, to arrest the slide in mineral exploration spending in Australia.

CHEVRONTEXACO has surprised the local engineering industry by deciding to build the Gorgon gas project along similar lines to the North West Shelf project.