Noel Dyson

ALONGSIDE the venture capital players are those behind-the-scenes players who advise companies trying to attract venture capital funding.

TWO new venture capital-type funds are due to debut on the WA stage soon.

A SIGNIFICANT portion of the WA Government’s new industrial relations laws come into effect today (Thursday August 1), including the controversial union right of entry provisions.

GOOD venture capital funding can make or break a budding venture. However, venture capital funding is not the only source of funding for new ventures.

DOES a marketing message need to be changed to suit WA audiences?According to KPMG partner and demographics expert Bernard Salt, it does.

THE spectacular failure of Rio Tinto’s attempts earlier this year to get its workforce to sign on to a non-union collective Federal agreement has thrown up one interesting lesson –

THE return of the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry to Perth has highlighted a problem facing the industry in WA – the policing of industrial problems.

PUBLISHING juggernaut the Community Newspaper Group is embarking on a number of revamps after the successful launch of its Western Suburbs Weekly last year.

PERTH’S independent suburban newspaper owners say they are winning the hearts and minds of their readers, despite advertising revenues being down 15 per cent in most cases.

THE Community Newspaper Group’s tactic of offering extremely low advertising rates to customers of independent suburban newspapers could become the subject of an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigation.

COMPETITION in the suburban newspaper market is set to increase with Community News-papers planning changes to at least two of its titles – the Guardian Express and the Fremantle Gazette.

WA businesses are making their move towards the Australian Workplace Agreements contracts offered by the Federal system with the imminent end of the State’s workplace agreements.

AUSTRALIANS are leaving the suburbs and heading to town or the beach, according to KPMG partner Bernard Salt. Indeed, it is the basis of his book The Big Shift – Welcome to the third Australian Culture.

DO those annoying electronic devices such as the queuing systems attached to many companies’ phone systems really work?

EIGHT presentation staff in the WA studios of WIN Television have fallen victim to the depressed advertising market and the technological advances of digital television.

BUSINESSES, particularly small ones, need to be aware of the export marketing tools available to them through both the Federal and WA governments.

THE long-demanded revamp of the Real Estate Institute of WA’s sale contract seems to be going ahead.

FOODLAND Associated Limited is centralising its purchasing and distribution processes in Melbourne.

STOCKBROKING firm Hartleys has signed a facilities management contract with Imagesource for its internal copying and printing needs throughout Australia.

MANY second-tier accounting firms will be ramping up their direct marketing to try and claim a bigger share of the audit and, potentially, consulting markets.

BUILDING a customer service culture within an organisation is one of the most crucial steps in exceeding customer expectations.

SECTORS of the building industry are concerned that a proposed restructure of the Building and Construction Industry Fund will give unions such as the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union too much power.

A DESIRE to see the world and further careers has caused a shortage of accountants with between three to five years’ experience.

THE Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union’s new enterprise bargaining agreement could be put to builders as early as August.

SOME insurance companies are requiring homebuilders to restructure their building companies to gain indemnity insurance cover.

THE careers of many accountants, architects, engineers, financial planners and similar professionals are in jeopardy due to a lack of professional indemnity insurance cover.

FAILURE to hold an enterprise bargaining agreement with the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union can preclude a company from working on a construction site in the Perth CBD, it has been alleged at the building industry royal commission.

THE WA Government’s much heralded blitz on bus vandals could run for just four to six weeks.The blitz, using controversial private security firm Secureforce International, could cost $600,000 a year to run if it is continued.

INSURANCE problems in the home building industry are likely to get much worse before they start to get any better.

THE Perth office of public relations company Porter Novelli has merged with financial intelligence company Castle Gates Australia.However, despite the merger, both companies will continue to operate individual businesses.

WORKING hard and enjoying it is one of the overriding principals driving one of WA’s largest family businessesAHG is WA’s second largest private company after the Multiplex Group, according to the WA Business News Book of Company Lists.

A UNION claim for a 36-hour week and a 6 per cent a year pay rise is expected to cause a number of sub contractors in the commercial building industry to go out of business.