VARIETY is the spice of Brisbane business life, if the list of winners and finalists of the 2014 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards – announced at Brisbane City Hall on October 10 – is anything to go by.

The two headline awards for business leaders were dominated by women: Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Julieanne Alroe was named Channel 7 Brisbane’s Business Person of the Year and Hear and Say Centres for Deaf Children founder Dimity Dornan was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award. 

‘Activist’ game developer Phil Larsen from Brisbane-based Halfbrick, creator of global video game phenomenon Fruit Ninja, was presented with the Brisbane Times Young Business Person of the Year award, while innovative property company, Place Design Group won the overall Optus Business Platinum award after earlier winning the new HSBC-sponsored award for Doing Business in Asia.

A theme of several award winners – including Mr Larsen, multiple award sinning Place Design Group managing director Shaun Munday and ANZ Made in Brisbane High Growth Business Start-up winner, Tanda director Tasmin Tresize – was to acknowledge the approach of Brisbane City Council and Lord Mayor Graham Quirk for focusing on developing an innovative business environment and recognising the vital role of the local business community in Brisbane’s $135 billion economy.

BUSINESS VARIETY

The mix of winners and nominees proved to be a showcase of the broad and sometimes surprising variety of business success stories coming out of Brisbane.

For example, a beauty company founded just 10 years ago in Brisbane by Francesca Webster, Brazilian Beauty, has re-written the code for franchising in this sector by focusing on both staf and customer satisfaction and discovered success well beyond what has been seen in the sector before. Now with 17 Brazilian Beauty locations, Ms Webster is opening another five in the next year and anticipates 50 within five years.

“We treat our team as we do our clients, we make them feel beautiful,” Ms Webster told the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards dinner event. “It’s by daring to be different that you succeed. We strive to be the best customer focused beauty brand in Brisbane and beyond.”

Special mention in the same category went to SponsoredlLinX, one of the fastest-growing digital marketing companies in Australia, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said. He said SponsoredLinX had developed into a market leader in Google Adwords, search engine optimisation, web design and other digital marketing service, doubling its revenues almost every year since its foundation in 2006 by CEO Ben Bradshaw. 

SUCCESS IN VARIETY

While Cr Quirk highlighted the significant long-term contributions to Brisbane’s business environment from Brisbane Airport Corporation’s Julieanne Alroe and Hear and Say’s Dimity Dornan, he also enthused about the lively start-up business scene that has been steadily developing in the Brisbane region and the international prospects for many early stage companies.

“Julieanne Alroe has been a remarkable leader at Brisbane Airport Corporation since her appointment as CEO in 2009,” Cr Quirk said. “She holds a number of other board positions with Australia TradeCoast Limited, Tourism and Events Queensland, Urban Futures Brisbane and the Queensland Theatre Company.

“Brisbane Airport Corporation also won the 2014 Clayton Utz Award for Corporate Citizenship which follows its win last year for Sustainability in Business. With Ms Alroe at the helm, Brisbane Airport has won numerous awards, including the 2014 Skytrax World Airport Awards third place ranking for airports servicing 20-30 million passengers. She is now overseeing the $1.3 billion parallel runway project, one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Australia.”

Significantly, when accepting her award. Ms Alroe highlighted the intense and continuing focus Brisbane Airport has on environmental achievements and sustainability.

Cr Quirk said associate professor Dimity Dornan was recognised for the ongoing success of the Hear and Say clinics that were founded in 1992. 

“Associate professor Dornan was one of the first people to graduate in Speech Therapy at The University of Queensland and she has been a trailblazer ever since,” Cr Quirk said.

“Her not-for-profit Hear and Say clinics now help more than 650 children across six centres.

“This year Dr Dornan received an AO in the Australia Day Honours, having previously been made a Member to the Order of Australia in 1998 and Queenslander of the Year in 2010.”

HEALTHY VARIETY

Also in the medical sphere, but at different ends of the spectrum were the My FootDr Group of companies, winning the Chandler Macleod Award for Digital Strategy and Mater Misericordiae Health Services which took out the Energex Award for Sustainability in Business.

My FootDr is leading the world in the development and manufacture of podiatry systems and the way it integrates digital technologies throughout its clinics and with patient communication. Its Brisbane operation has perfected its systems in Australia and Asia to reduce orthotics turnaround times from the traditional two weeks to just 30 minutes.

At another end of the business scale was Brisbane City Council Award for New Investment winner Felicity Hotels, which established the new $450 million Four Points By Sheraton hotel in the Brisbane CBD this year – the first luxury hotel opening in the city for more than a decade.

Felicity Hotels managing director Paul Chong, whose property is one of the key hotels hosting G20 Leaders Summit delegates next month, said his group was delighted to “establish a footprint in this great city”.

Lord Mayor Quirk said, “These businesses and individuals play a critical role in establishing Brisbane as Australia’s new world city and a hub for innovation, investment, education, conventions and tourism in the Asia Pacific region.

“A big thank you to our award sponsors: ANZ, Australia TradeCoast, Brisbane City Council, Brisbane Times, Chandler Macleod, Clayton Utz, Channel Seven, Energex, 4BC, HSBC, BDO, Sirromet Wines and Optus for their support.”

www.lmba.com.au

The 2014 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards winners were:

Australia TradeCoast Award for Small Business Growth: Brazilian Beauty; special mention to SponsoredlinX.

Brisbane City Council Award for New Investment: Felicity Hotels Pty Ltd trading as Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane.

Chandler Macleod Award for Digital Strategy: My FootDr Group of Companies.

Clayton Utz Award for Corporate Citizenship: Brisbane Airport Corporation; special mention to HopgoodGanim.

Energex Award for Sustainability in Business: Mater Misericordiae Health Services Brisbane Limited.

Optus Business Platinum Award: Place Design Group.

HSBC Award for Doing Business in Asia: Place Design Group; special mention OBE Beef Pty Ltd.

ANZ Made in Brisbane Award for High Growth Business Start-up: Tanda; special mention to Ecoriginals Pty Ltd

Sirromet Wines Award for Business Innovation: EarthCheck.

Brisbane Times Award for Young Business Person of the Year: Phil Larsen of Halfbrick.

Channel 7 Business Person of the Year: Julieanne Alroe, Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Dimity Dornan AO, founder of the Hear and Say Centres for Deaf Children.

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AN ORGANIC beef producer, a planning and design leader, an international training college and employment agency and a nature-based tourism operator are all vying for the new Doing Business in Asia Lord Mayor’s Business Award, to be announced this week.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the Brisbane Airport Precinct-based OBE Beef, Place Design Group and Charlton Brown, both located in Fortitude Valley, and Moreton Island’s Tangalooma Resort were all building important links between Brisbane and Asia. 

 “The ninth annual Lord Mayor’s Business Awards honour our local business community and its contribution to Brisbane’s $135 billion economy,” Cr Quirk said.

“The awards also reinforce why Brisbane – Australia’s new world city – was chosen to host the G20 Leaders Summit in November.

“The Doing Business in Asia category recognises businesses making an outstanding effort in building trade between Brisbane and Asia. It highlights our growing role as a business hub within a region with which we share increasingly close economic, trade and cultural links.”

Cr Quirk said other 2014 award finalists include Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Julianne Alroe and Vuly Trampolines founder Joe Andon for Business Person of the Year. Mr Andon is also nominated for Business Innovation and Young Business Person of the Year.

“Phil Larsen from HalfBrick, the game developer behind the global hit Fruit Ninja and one of the faces of our international Choose Brisbane campaign is another in the running for Young Business Person of the Year,” Cr Quirk said.

Brisbane Marketing CEO John Aitken said the companies and individuals chosen as finalists were from a wide range of industries.

“The 2014 LMBA finalists highlight the amazing depth of Brisbane’s business community. They cover areas including hospitality, tourism, law, health services, transport, IT, digital, food, education and manufacturing,” Mr Aitken said.

“A big thank you to our sponsors: ANZ, Australia TradeCoast, Brisbane City Council, brisbanetimes.com.au, Chandler Macleod, Clayton Utz, Channel Seven, Energex, 4BC, HSBC, and Optus for their support.”

The 2014 LMBA winners will be announced at the Gala Dinner at City Hall on Friday  (October 10).

www.lmba.com.au

The 2014 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards finalists are:

AUSTRALIA TRADE COAST AWARD FOR SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH

Alt.vfx Pty Ltd

Brazilian Beauty

Reload Media

SponsoredLinX

BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL AWARD FOR NEW INVESTMENT

Coca-Cola Amatil 

DP World Brisbane

Felicity Hotel Pty Ltd trading as Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane

SilverNeedle Hospitality

CHANDLER MACLEOD AWARD FOR DIGITAL STRATEGY

Brisbane Airport Corporation

Dental Members Australia

My FootDr Group of Companies

NEXTDC Ltd

CLAYTON UTZ AWARD FOR CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

APHS

Brisbane Airport Corporation

Brisbane Broncos

Hopgood Ganim

ENERGEX AWARD FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS

Business South Bank

Ecoriginals Pty Ltd

Global GreenTag Pty Ltd

Mater Misericordiae Health Services Brisbane Limited

HSBC AWARD FOR DOING BUSINESS IN ASIA

Charlton Brown

OBE Beef Pty Ltd

Place Design Group

Tangalooma Island Resort

ANZ MADE IN BRISBANE AWARD FOR HIGH-GROWTH BUSINESS START-UP

Brus Media Pty Ltd

Ecoriginals Pty Ltd

PlantMiner.com.au

RedEye Apps

Tanda

AWARD FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION

EarthCheck

Halfbrick

Queensland Urban Utilities

Vuly Trampolines

Brisbanetimes.com.au AWARD FOR YOUNG BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR

Joe Andon – Vuly Trampolines

Michael Trusler – PlantMiner.com.au

Nic Blair – Search Factory

Phil Larsen - Halfbrick

Sarah-jane Peterschlingmann – Atechnology International

CHANNEL 7 BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR

Associate Professor Dimity Dornan AO – Hear and Say Centres for Deaf Children

Joe Andon – Vuly Trampolines

Julieanne Alroe – Brisbane Airport Corporation

Robert Bishop – Azentro

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EXTRA >>

ASX-listed Invigor Group is developing into a leading integrated digital solutions group through the purchase of online media agency Search Results Group for $5.8 million.

The deal, through the acquisition of shares in the operator and associated entities, is expected to have a transformative effect on Invigor – and Search Results Group, which has fielded complaints from some businesses unhappy with its search engine results in recent times – by improving Invigor’s EBITDA and generating net operating cash inflows, according to Invigor Group executive chairman Gary Cohen.

Meanwhile Invigor has also committed $3 million dollars to purchase 20 percent of high tech US company My Verififed which specialises in the development and distribution of universal verified sign in technology to eliminate fraud, reduce costs and protect against identity theft.

 “This investment further enhances Invigor’s investment into businesses specialising in digital solutions,” Mr Cohen said. “We look forward to working closely with the My Verified team and assisting with their development and distribution of the My Verified product.”

Search Results Group has become a leading Australian online media agency by offering simple and affordable search, web development and marketing products to assist small and medium enterprises to grow. The challenges it has faced have come from its brands Publicity Monster, Premium Locals and The Online Media Agency, according to reports in the Australian Financial Review.

“Upon completion, the acquisition of Search Results Group will continue Invigor’s transformation into a leading digital solutions group,” Mr Cohen said.

“This acquisition will add to the portfolio of Invigor customers to whom we can deliver products and services to meet their business needs and at the same time provide Invigor with the ability to leverage data and our existing infrastructure to drive down delivery costs and increase margins,” Mr Cohen said.

Invigor Group currently specialises in innovative business intelligence and big data solutions which are supported by strategic consulting, development and marketing services. Invigor works across a broad range of industries including consumer electronics, automotive, financial and insurance, pharmaceuticals, apparel and homewares.

Invigor has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Chennai., focusing on the information technologies sector.

Invigor Group is also this year rolling out a range of new data insight products for several industry sectors.

www.invigorgroup.com.au

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EXTRA >>

AUSTRALIAN leaders in retailing were recognised in the recent Australian Retailers Association (ARA) eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards – with top brands Specsavers, Super Retail Group, NRMA Insurance, Priceline Pharmacy and ABC Shop all featuring prominently in the 11 categories.

Priceline Pharmacy was honoured with the coveted 2014 eftpos Australian Retailer of the Year award, presented by eftpos managing director Bruce Mansfield, at Tuesday’s awards breakfast in Melbourne, attended by more than 400 retail professionals and national media. 

Specsavers global retail director, Derek Dyson, and Victorian Minister for Small Business, Russell Northe, delivered keynote addresses at the Australian Retail Awards breakfast.

“Retail is an important part of the nation’s economy and this year’s award winners provide shining examples of excellence in retailing,” Mr Mansfied said, congratulating all award winners and finalists for their “outstanding contribution to Australian retail”.

“Retail is becoming an increasingly complex industry as more Australians expect to be able to shop and purchase goods online, on mobiles and in store.

“Many of these award winning businesses are rising to the ever-increasing challenges in retail, in the face of strong international competition.

“Eftpos is proud to have served the retail community for almost 30 years with a simple and secure way for customers to access their own money at the checkout. We continue to look for new ways to help Australian businesses meet the challenges of the future,” Mr Mansfield said.

ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman said this year’s awards were more competitive than ever, making it extremely challenging for the expert panel of judges to determine winners and finalists.

“The ARA would like to congratulate the winners of our brand new category for 2014 – the Shop for Shops Australian Retail Store Upgrade of the Year – taken out by Saltwater Wine,” Mr Zimmerman said. He said Saltwater Wine was also named Visa Australian Independent Retailer of the Year.

“Family business Claws ‘n’ Paws Pet Supplies was named the winner of the Victorian Government Victorian Retailer of the Year award for the second year running and ABC shop was honoured with the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Retailer of the Year award – as determined by Roy Morgan survey results,” he said.

“This year’s FCB Australian Retail HR Practitioner of the Year award went to Laura Rankin from Super Retail Group, and PANDORA claimed their second accolade for the morning – taking out the BDO Australian Retail Employer of the Year award after placing runner-up in the eftpos Australian Retailer of the Year category.

“While Specsavers keynote address enthralled guests with their story of opening 100 retail stores over the course of just 100 days, it was their commitment to innovation that earned the business two new titles of Quest Payment Systems Retail Innovator of the Year and eBay Inc Australian Multichannel Retailer of the Year,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“With the ARA Retail Institute producing graduates like this year’s winners of the Expr3ss! Staff Selection Software Retail Graduate of the Year award, Piyush Bhanot of Aldi Stores for his diploma of retail management and Carmen Apostolatos of Oxfam Shop for her certificate four in retail management, I am confident that the future of the retail industry is in very good hands.

“This year, the ARA Awards were centred on the theme of retail as a career of choice, not just a job,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Take the REST Industry Super Australian Retailer of the Year award winner, Sharon Ida from NRMA Insurance, for example. Sharon has shown true leadership and inspiration to those around her – and it was our absolute pleasure to recognise outstanding individuals such as Sharon on a national stage here today.

“Enthusiasm for our industry was evident through every award submission during this year’s judging process – an unequivocal endorsement that retail is absolutely a desirable and honourable profession offering exciting and rewarding career opportunities.

“It’s unfortunate that many people see retail as only a stepping stone – an opportunity to obtain people skills before moving into other careers. These people are oblivious to the myriad of opportunities that exist beyond the cashier and sales assistant positions of the shop floor.
“The ARA has a long and dedicated history of protecting and promoting the retail industry's interests, including changing the perception of retail as a professional career rather than just a ‘job.’

“After all, the retail industry makes a significant contribution to the overall state of the national economy and employs more people in Australia than any other private sector industry,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Congratulations once again to all finalists and winners of this year’s eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards – the ARA was proud to recognise and reward you in front of your industry peers today.

“The ARA would also like to acknowledge all sponsors for their continued support – eftpos, Visa, REST Industry Super, BDO, Quest Payment Systems, Expr3ss! Staff Selection Software, eBay Inc, FCB, Roy Morgan Research, the Victorian Government, Shop for Shops, Crowther Blayne and our media partners Inside Retail and Smartcompany,” Mr Zimmerman said.

www.retail.org.au

Winners and finalists of the 2014 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards:

eftpos Australian Retailer of the Year

WINNER: Priceline Pharmacy 

RUNNER-UP: PANDORA

FINALIST: Supercheap Auto

REST Industry Super Australian Individual Retailer of the Year

WINNER: Sharon Ida, NRMA Insurance  

Visa Australian Independent Retailer of the Year

WINNER: Saltwater Wine & Stormriders

RUNNER-UP: Beer Cartel

Expr3ss! Staff Selection Software Australian Retail Graduate of the Year – Diploma

WINNER: Piyush Bhanot, Aldi Stores
RUNNER-UP: Katherine Barber, Beacon Lighting

Expr3ss! Staff Selection Software Australian Retail Graduate of the Year – Certificate IV

WINNER: Carmen Apostolatos, Oxfam Shop

FCB Australian Retail HR Practitioner of the Year

WINNER: Laura Rankin, Super Retail Group
RUNNER-UP: Jarrod Reid, Salvos Stores

BDO Australian Retail Employer of the Year

WINNER: PANDORA
RUNNER-UP: Repco

Quest Payment Systems Retail Innovator of the Year

WINNER: Specsavers
RUNNER-UP: Tyreright
FINALIST: eyeclarity

Victorian Government Victorian Retailer of the Year

WINNER: Claws ‘n’ Paws Pet Supplies
RUNNER-UP: Crocé & Colosimo Couture

Shop for Shops Australian Retail Store Upgrade of the Year

WINNER: Saltwater Wine
RUNNER-UP: Clearly
FINALIST: Wine Republic

Roy Morgan Australian Customer Satisfaction Retailer of the Year

WINNER: ABC Shop
RUNNER-UP: Foodland

eBay Inc Australian Multichannel Retailer of the Year

WINNER: Specsavers
RUNNER-UP: The Co-op

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