Noel Dyson

A STAR-STUDDED collection of Perth’s business community, including Multiplex Constructions, the Barbagallo Group and media and wine industry mogul Jack Bendat is turning out for a chance to hear former US president Bill Clinton speak.

TWELVE years after being cast off by mining giant Sons of Gwalia, WA engineering firm RCR Tomlinson has emerged as Australia’s largest boiler maker.

TELEPHONE intercept technology and being kept on hold remain the biggest bugbears of Australian consumers.

WITHIN two years it will be illegal for a WA Government agency to misplace or destroy files it should be keeping.

LEADERSHIP is a package, says Murdoch University MBA program chair John Krasnostein.

AT just 30 years of age, Doug Ockerby has worked his way up through the real estate profession to run WA’s largest independently owned realtor.

TECHNOLOGY is making the traditional office-bound organisation less important. But is it rendering leadership less important?Not according to Stephen Langsford, managing director at e-business developer Method.

THE crushing weight of compliance, spawned mainly by the GST, may mean an end to the days of the lone accountant.

THE lot of lone accountants, or even those running small accounting practices, is certainly not an easy one.

NEARLY one year ago the Labor Party stormed to power in WA after campaigning on a platform that included a commitment to open and accountable government.

BOASTING nearly 7,000 members throughout Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, it is no wonder Perth-headquartered automotive supply group Capricorn Society has turned to one of Australia’s most successful retailers to recruit a new leader.

p Noel DysonA POTENTIALLY lucrative career in consulting awaits Perth City Council chief executive officer Garry Hunt when his council successor is finally announced.

OVERCOMING problems associated with customers looking at, touching or feeling the merchandise on offer may have moved a step closer through the use of high resolution virtual tours.

ALCOA is not the only WA operation experiencing community pressure. The Fremantle Port Authority also has been feeling increasing heat during the past few years.

WHILE the picture facing a lot of sole practitioner accountants and small accounting firms is not a pretty one, the news is not all bad.At just 28, Justin Coppin (pictured below) owns not one but three accounting practices.

A MASTER plan for the redevelopment of Perth’s eastern gateway is expected to be available for public comment by April.

AFTER eight years as chief executive officer of the Perth City Council, no one significant issue stands out as a highlight for Garry Hunt.

SUCCESSFULLY going from legal eagle to business winner has earned Australian Heritage Group managing director Sally Capp (top left) a nomination for Business News’ 40 Under 40 program.

A BILL due to be debated next year will, if it becomes law, make WA’s Department of State Revenue the most powerful tax collecting agency in Australia.

THE Master Builders Association of WA has hit back at construction union claims that they are free to enter any work site following a decision by the full bench of the WA Supreme Court.

WHILE the pre and post-Christmas periods may be the best sales times for many retailers, it also is a period that raises their exposure to crime.The risks of shoplifting and fraud rise as shopper traffic increases.

CAN leadership and entrepreneurship be taught? This is the question facing University of WA Business School dean Paul McLeod.Dr McLeod believes the short answer is no – great leaders and entrepreneurs are born with those skills.

AN Australia-wide glut of wine grapes threatens grape growers but could bring big benefits to wine consumers over the next year.

AFTER a year some small business operators would rather forget, hopes are high that solid Christmas sales will help remove some of the pain.

RESTORING the reputation of the accounting industry is one of the key goals for new Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australian national president Geoff Brayshaw.

A BILL allowing the increase of WA’s top payroll tax rate from 5.56 per cent to 6 per cent has been introduced into Parliament.

VITAL information on serious workplace accidents could be being missed because of an agreement between two of WA’s peak workplace injury bodies, WorkCover and WorkSafe.

WA’S newsagents have been given a 12-month reprieve on plans to put Lotto online.Newsagents were concerned when Lotteries Commission plans to put the money-spinning numbers game onto the Internet became public earlier this year.

AFTER 12 years – eight of them as a part-time operation – a WA-based driver training and transport management company is starting its international expansion.

JACKSON McDonald chairman Jonathon Ilbery has been appointed to chair a business taxation reference group that is part of the WA Government’s review of business taxation.The business tax review was announced in the State Budget in September.

DIRECTORS of the failed Geraldton Building Co, Laurence Gallop and Geoff Crothers, have emerged with links to the new owners of sizeable portions of the failed business.

RETICULATION and garden supplies company Hugall & Hoile has appointed a master franchisee to run its mowing operations.Garry Young has taken a 10-year master franchise agreement for a combined “lump sum” licence fee and an ongoing royalty.