Visiting Western Sydney just got a lot easier with a one-stop shop website and app launched last night as part of the first ever marketing campaign for Sydney’s West – “SW: you’ll love it as much as we do”. 

This is the first time Western Sydney covering 9,000 square kilometres and eight local council areas is being marketed collectively as one destination.  The website and app are part of the Western Sydney Visitor Strategy, a concerted group effort driven by the Western Sydney Business Connection to position Western Sydney as a highly competitive region on the world stage.

Visit Sydney’s West website and real time smart phone app provides locals and visitors all the stay, play, work, study and live information together in the one place.

Each Western Sydney suburb is profiled including population, travel distances, schools, languages spoken, median house price and average age of populations. There is also a comprehensive travelling to guide, and a single source of What’s On detailing hundreds of cultural festivals, sporting events, exhibitions, entertainment along with local tourist attractions, walking, hiking and cycling trails, accommodation, places to eat and drink and special offers.

Using world best practice in destination marketing the Visit Sydney’s West strategy and campaign elements have been created by specialist city marketing consultancy Strategetic Consultants best known for delivering the incredibly successful 100% Pure New Zealand campaign.

Western Sydney Business Connection, General Manager, Amanda Brisot said the premise to the Visit Sydney’s West strategy is the focus on growing the visitor economy for the region rather than just attracting tourism dollars.     

“It is designed to help the region achieve sustainable growth by attracting skilled migrants, students, investment, business and tourists through showcasing the lifestyle, sociability and other attributes of the area”, said Mrs Brisot.

“Phase one of the marketing program, the website and app are designed to set the foundation that will be extended and enhanced over time.

“Throughout the year we will release additional elements including a direct marketing campaign we are working on with big sporting codes, a Western Sydney Business Events Bureau and major event strategy.” said Mrs Brisot. 

The launch event was attended by The Hon. Minister Adam Marshall, MP, Minister for Tourism and Major Events, The Hon. Dr Geoff Lee MP, Member for Parramatta, City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Andrew Wilson, Liverpool City Council Mayor Wendy Waller, key industry bodies, local government and local business.

The Western Sydney Business Connection is the driving force in this unique public private partnership, bringing all levels of government and local businesses together to promote Western Sydney collectively.

Founding members include DNSW, City of Parramatta, Campbelltown City Council, Liverpool City Council, Cumberland City Council, SOPA, Featherdale Wildlife Park, Parramatta Leagues Club, Penrith Panthers, Rooty Hill RSL, Wet n Wild, Sydney Zoo, Australian Turf Club, Museum of Applied Science and TAFE NSW.

The Visitor Strategy aims to bring 185,000 incremental visitors each year with an estimated $25million incremental spend, culminating in 12.8 million visitors and $1.1BN per annum in direct incremental spend by 2030 and 36,000 jobs over 12 years.

A Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO) will be established as a division of Western Sydney Business Connection to deliver the strategy and campaign. The project team will continue to develop an experience portfolio focusing on the area’s lifestyle both now and the future.

Western Sydney Business Connection is also pleased to announce the formation of the Visitor Marketing Advisory Board responsible for leading the DMO. The board is designed to represent the major sub-sectors of the visitor economy including tourism, art and culture, licensed clubs, sport, local government, major events and exhibitions.

The Board will be chaired by current WSBC Board Member Lindy Dietz, General Manager, Campbelltown City Council and will include:

• Tony Chiefari, GM , Featherdale Wildlife Park
  
• Joyce Dimascio, CEO, Events and Exhibitions Association Australasia
  
• Bevan Paul, CEO Parramatta Leagues Club
  
• Susan Skuodas, Senior Manager, Place Making at Sydney Olympic Park Authority
  
• Jimmy Busteed, Head of Sales, Australian Turf Club
  
• Arani Duggen, Head of Development, Museum of Applied Arts and Science and current WSBC Board Member
  
• Julia Pucci, Director Cultural Infrastructure, Western Sydney – Cultural Infrastructure Program Management Office
  
• Michael Johnson, General Manager, Parkroyal Parramatta
  

Visit Sydney’s West sydneyswest.com or download the free “Sydneyswest” app - available on iOS and android platforms.

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sydneys-west/id1335848506?ls=1&mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.appspeople.sydneywest_android

The racing world will turn its focus to Royal Randwick for The Championships, as the best-of-the-best vie for over $20 million prizemoney across two consecutive Saturdays.

The Championships Day 1, the grand finals of Australian racing, is heralded by the Group 1 $2 million Australian Derby along with the world’s richest mile handicap, the Group 1 $3 million The Star Doncaster.

A day of racing royalty that celebrates the traditions of Derby Day, join with friends at Royal Randwick for a day of fashion, entertainment, award winning hospitality, thrilling thoroughbred racing and so much more. 

Don't forget, your event ticket includes complimentary travel on Sydney train, bus and rail.

Click here to book your hospitality.

“How do I find the time to star gaze, to get on the balcony when my business needs to be resilient and adaptive now?”

Western Sydney is the growth story of our lifetime and businesses are told to grab the opportunity with both hands. Our clients are excited about this but they are daunted at the same time. Management and leadership have only so many hours in the day. You are not alone on this. Here are the top 5 questions we are helping our clients solve:

- How do we get more cash and profit out of what we are already doing?

- We predict change, can you help us prepare?

- How do we improve our attractiveness to lenders or equity investors in order to grow or improve our business?

- Our business is having an ‘uh-oh’ moment, where should we prioritise our effort?

- How do we prepare for sale or succession?

Our financial and operational improvement strategies look beyond the obvious to uplift profit, unlock cash, obtain capital, respond to change or simply improve shareholder value. We deploy leading edge data and technology insights to quickly identify where to prioritise your valuable management time and allocate effort to unlock those pockets of value uplift and afford the best chance of achieving your strategic and financial ambition.

I welcome the opportunity to meet with you and discuss what we are seeing and where we can assist.

Angela Haynes 

KPMG Greater Western Sydney

Level 8, 91 Phillip Street

Parramatta NSW 2150 Australia

Tel 02 8841 2150

Mob 0419 444 010

ahaynes1@kpmg.com.au

Community engagement and increasing corporate social responsibility has been linked to organisations attracting and retaining staff. Indeed, employee retention is one of many organisations major battles. A survey conducted by Australian Human Resources Institute in 2015 revealed that the average turnover figure is 16 percent! This is costly in many ways including a decline in productivity. Now many organisations are investing in retention initiatives such as competitive pay may not be a financially viable option. Employees no longer prioritise holding tenure with their current company over seeking a job elsewhere that better suits their lifestyle, career and altruistic aspirations.

Parramatta Mission believe one of the key engagement factors that really matter to staff is a card that many organisations in the corporate world may not have yet realised - the importance of creating a corporate social responsibility. Parramatta Mission have gathered this information through the experience of providing many corporate organisations the ability to partner with them and achieve their corporate social responsibility, especially though their Meals Plus service.

Parramatta Mission's Meals Plus is a program that provides an inclusive, safe place were many who are struggling from all kinds of issues including homelessness, crisis and domestic violence, can come and eat a healthy meal and socialise with others. They serve breakfast and lunch to those who are homeless, facing homelessness or in financial crisis.

They provide more than 26,000 meals a year.

Meals Plus has been running for more than 20 years now and only have three paid staff.

Meals Plus provides an opportunity for organisations to have a designated event where you can sponsor a lunch, on a day of your choice – which is excellent for team building and demonstrating your corporate social responsibility. As a team you will prepare, cook and serve meals for those less fortunate. Feedback has been that this is a very rewarding experience; many of their corporate volunteers ask when they can return!

To find out more, or to book in your sponsored lunch contact: fundraising@parrmarramattamission.org.au

For the past 23 years, Jeff Bezos has served as the CEO of Amazon. In November 2017, Forbes named him the richest man in the world. They estimated his net worth at more than US$100 billion. That was enough to put him above Bill Gates, the previous holder of the top spot.

“Day 1” vs. “Day 2” Companies

In the opening of his 2017 letter to shareholders, Bezos makes a distinction between Day 1 and Day 2 companies. He first referred to Amazon as a Day 1 company way back in 1997. According to him, Day 1 applies to companies that are on their way up.

Unlike them, Day 2 companies are on their way down. He sees Amazon as a permanent Day 1 company. “Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death.”

In his words, this decline doesn’t have to happen fast. It can play out over several decades. Most businesses will not even notice it happening. But the inevitable final result is always the same.

2017 Letter to Shareholders: Key Lessons

When building culture in the workplace, it’s important to ensure that the company remains in Day 1. In the most recent letter, he shares some pointers on how to achieve this.

It is interesting to know that there’s no mention of money or profit anywhere in the letter yet Amazon grew its gross profit to US $47.72 billion in 2016.

Lesson #1 – Focus on Your Customer

According to Jeff Bezos, customer obsession is one of the keys to staying in Day 1. Of course, companies can choose what they want to focus on. They can focus on their products, technology, or their business model. They might also direct their attention towards beating the competition.

But Amazon’s decision to focus on its customers has proved crucial to its lasting success. Bezos says that even when customers claim they are happy with the service, they are always dissatisfied. As such, it’s up to businesses to come up with new ways to engage them and keep them on board.

This has been the company policy from the get-go. They always aim to create a better service and an easier-to-use interface. After a while, they were also able to offer much lower prices than their competition.

Lesson #2 – Make Decisions Fast

To remain a Day 1 company, it’s not enough to make high-quality decisions. You need to make high-quality decisions fast. This is the go-to approach of Amazon’s senior management.

According to Bezos, this can be tricky, as there’s more room for error. But another hallmark of a great company culture is the ability to solve those issues early on. If you can do it, it may cost you much less than being slow at making a decision.

Sometimes, you also have to trust your team to do something you may not agree with. Bezos calls this approach “disagree and commit.” He cites a recent example where he green-lit a series for his streaming service even though he didn’t have much faith in.

But he did have faith in his team, which made his decision easier. He wrote them a message saying “I disagree and commit and hope it becomes the most watched thing we’ve ever made.”

It’s all rather simple: he believes that his team know what they’re doing. What’s more, had he declined their proposal, they would have wasted a lot of time trying to persuade him. In building a positive workplace culture, you sometimes have to take risks. If experience has taught us anything, it’s that, in the end, some of them might pay off big time.

Lesson #3 – Escalate Misalignment Issues Straight Away

Conflicting views within teams are common in any workplace. Bezos makes it clear that Amazon is no exception to the rule. He dubs these “misalignment issues.” If they go on for too long, they could create a toxic culture in the workplace.

The end result of this process is always the same – exhaustion. According to Jeff Bezos, this is never the smart way to go. “‘You’ve worn me down’ is an awful decision-making process. It’s slow and de-energising. Go for quick escalation instead – it’s better.”

He cited an example from his own experience. This happened when Amazon first toyed with the idea of allowing third-party sellers to feature on their pages. Many found it outrageous to welcome competitors on the site. But instead of delaying it, Bezos decided to act fast.

By doing that, he took an already great company culture to a whole new level. This also ties in with his earlier point. It takes a lot of time to sort out these misalignment issues. Thus, it prevents the senior team from making rapid decisions.

Lesson #4 – Embrace Innovation

Staying on top of current trends is essential to any company’s longevity. Yet according to Bezos, resisting the changes can lead a business into Day 2.

It is much easier for small businesses to do this. At the same time, it could be somewhat problematic for large companies like Amazon. For one, they have many managerial levels that need to approve the change. Then there’s also the scope of their operations and the effect sudden changes would have on them.

Right now, Amazon is focusing on implementing one such change. Bezos says they are exploring artificial intelligence and the power of machine learning.

Some of these changes are rather visible. For example, Amazon has recently started testing air delivery drones.

Lesson #5 – Find Employees Who Think Like Business Owners

Like he always does, Bezos attached the original 1997 letter to his most recent one. In it, we can find one great example of employee development methods. Back then, he claimed that his goal was to find employees who think like business owners.

In the year prior, Amazon hired 450 new full-time employees. Twenty years later, the number has risen to 230,000. There are plans to grow the staff by 100,000 across the world by mid-2018.

Bezos points out that talented and versatile employees are vital to his company’s success. They also have to think of the company instead of themselves. To motivate them, Amazon compensates them in stock options. They are thus not only employees but also owners.

What to Do Next

In the last 23 years, Jeff Bezos has led his company to incredible success. His effective leadership skills have helped him in building a positive workplace culture.

Following his expert advice will enable you to do the following:

• Make smart business decisions with long-term positive effects.
• Create high-performing teams of employees who think like owners.
• Remain the leader in the market by adopting innovations.

Remember that a great manager can DOUBLE the capacity of their people.

Register for our next webinar here to learn more about growing your company and increasing your profits.

Parramatta Chamber of Commerce has selected Westmead Medical Research Foundation (WMRF) as the charity of choice for their upcoming Charity Golf Day.

During a recent visit to Westmead Hospital, the event sponsors got a behind the scenes insight at how funds raised by WMRF are used in different areas of the hospital.

Paul Noppen, Darren Delaney and Mark Davis, from Noppen Group, together with Parramatta Chamber of Commerce Board member Rosa Bellisimo, visited The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre (CPMCC) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Westmead.

CPMCC nurse unit manager radiation oncology Noeline Ranzac – who is also a golf fan – thanked the sponsors for their commitment to this year’s event.

“Some of the equipment we use daily at the centre was purchased with funds received from sponsors and supporters of events like golf days,” Noeline said.

“The incredible generosity of donors funding state-of-the-art equipment allows us to improve the therapy of patients through their difficult cancer journey.”

At NICU, the sponsors met nurse unit manager John Whittaker who explained the importance of having equipment with advanced features available at the ward.

“A perfect example is the PANDA Resuscitaire, a machine that keeps a newborn at optimum temperature and has the ability to provide breathing assistance if the baby requires it,” John said.

“Thank you to Parramatta Chamber of Commerce, Noppen Group for visiting, and all the sponsors of this year Charity Golf Day.”

The 2018 Charity Golf Day in support of the Foundation will be held on May 8 at Oatlands Golf Club. Golfers and guests will play a round of golf and then enjoy lunch to raise funds to support medical research and patient care at Westmead.

To find out how you can support medical research and patient care, visit wmrf.org.au, call 1800 639 037 or email wmrf@wmrf.org.au

175 One Hotels and Apartments owned and operated by Parramatta Mission is located in the heart of Westmead Medical Precinct. The 59 room motel has close to 40 years’ experience accommodating local professionals, families, patients and visitors. All proceeds from the activities onsite at 175 are returned in to the non-government funded programs run by Parramatta Mission.

175 One Hotels and Apartments is a social enterprise and a profit-for-purpose organisation with a mission to transform the lives of the less fortunate within our community.

175 One Hotels and Apartments is run under social enterprise principles in aspects of training opportunities for disadvantaged youngsters and activities supporting local community engagement. For the social activities that has been adopted on the Westmead site, One Hotels and Apartments was awarded the 2017 Western Sydney Business Awards for excellence in Social Enterprise.

The social principle is supported by the recently added activity of a coffee cart, called One Grounds.

One Grounds provides amazing coffee, tea and baked goods from the convenience of a coffee cart located on the corner of the property at Queens Rd and Hawkesbury Rd Westmead. The social concept of buy 1 give 1 has been established to provide an innovative way to help people lift themselves up out of a difficult situation with the support from a fellow member of the community and of course a great coffee.

To run alongside the coffee cart the motel has opened a continental buffet breakfast that operates from 6am – 10am Monday to Friday which is located in AJ’s Café of 175 One Hotels and Apartments. AJ’s Cafe is a perfect location for your next meeting or breakfast catch up. Sit in a quiet space away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy great food and a peaceful atmosphere.

For more information on our functions or to make a booking, including a conference centre, please contact our team on (02) 9635 1233 or email info175@onehotelsapartments.com.au or alternatively visit our website www.onehotelsapartments.com.au/175

By Future City Minds - Western Sydney 

Born to migrant parents from India and raised in the working-class suburb of Pendle Hill, Brendon Noney realised at a young age that education would be the key to his future prosperity. Through his work at HWL Ebsworth, a large law firm with a local focus, he has developed enduring ties with some of Greater Western Sydney’s most influential business people. Since 2013, he has also served as president of the Western Sydney Business Connection, an organisation that aims to facilitate networking between some 6,000 business leaders across the region.

“When I was growing up, in many instances I didn’t want to let people know that I came from Western Sydney. But now, I wear it very proudly – and I think a lot of people from Western Sydney who have done well for themselves are similarly proud.

“I grew up in Pendle Hill. My parents came here from India in 1971 and I was born two years later. We didn’t have a lot of possessions as kids, but there was a lot of love in the house. Not having a great deal encouraged me to study, because I saw that as my way to succeed. I did my tertiary education in the city, at Sydney Uni. Back then, Sydney Uni and UNSW were the best places to study law and medicine and engineering, but these days, I’d certainly do my law degree through Western Sydney University because its courses and academic staff and facilities are all so good. As a Western Sydney boy, I’m very proud of the fact that we can now offer world-class university courses right here in the west.

“HWL Ebsworth is the largest law firm in Australia by partner numbers and having a Western Sydney office is incredibly important to us. Many of the firm’s clients are decentralising from the Sydney CBD or are solely based in Greater Western Sydney. And we’re picking up new clients all the time. Only last week I signed a new client based in Blacktown with a $300 million turnover. Our dedicated office at Norwest played a role converting that client.

“The Western Sydney Business Connection’s tagline is ‘Connection for Growth’ and that’s exactly what we do: connect some of the leading businesses in Greater Western Sydney with each other and with government so they can benefit from each other and collectively grow the region. We also help set the agenda for future economic activity in Western Sydney. Currently, we’re doing a lot of work on developing the region’s visitor economy to bring more people to stay and play in the west, ensuring people are spending their money in cafes and restaurants, hotels and theme parks.

“My message to migrants who are weighing up different parts of Sydney is, ‘There’s opportunity in the West. Come and take it.’ There’s enormous opportunity here. You can still get reasonably priced real estate – you’re not paying $1.5 million for a run-down shack like you do in the inner west. Major businesses like Woolworths have their headquarters here. And it’s very Aussie and very multicultural at the same time. You’ve got the best of both worlds. I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve when I say this, but I think it’s a place of more acceptance than some other parts of Australia. We put our arms out and welcome people – that’s what we do. Everyone’s welcome.”

Advice

For some new business entrants to the area, Western Sydney may seem like a challenge in terms of attracting and retaining talent. How useful is a business network to this exercise, and what would your key advice to a manager be?

“In my time working in Western Sydney, I have found participating in business networks to be a critical means of establishing trusted relationships, be they with clients or with other lawyers and law firms. In our profession, building trusted personal relationships is the name of the game – and by establishing those relationships through business networks, opportunities arise to attract and retain talent. Participating in Western Sydney’s business networks is also a way for companies and individuals to demonstrate their dedication to the region. It’s an authentic thing to do, and colleagues in both Western Sydney and elsewhere will recognise that.” - Brendon Noney, Western Sydney Business Connection

“Our clients who succeed within a non-CBD space, frequently do so by adopting a “hyper-local” strategy: this involves investing time and energy into the local business community, and making sure your product offering is tailored to the community you serve. Business forums and platforms are a valuable platform for exchange and feedback, and can be a great away of meeting potential partners.” – Adrian Oldham, Michael Page

Looking to make the most of the opportunity in the West? Speak to a Michael Page regional expert today.

Campbelltown City Council unveiled its bold vision for the City of Campbelltown in front of Sydney’s leaders in government, business, tourism, health, education and sport, at a recent event at Parliament House.

The Mayor and General Manager kicked off the event, which focused on Re-imagining Campbelltown – a future vision for the Campbelltown CBD and the creation of more activated, connected and sustainable places. Council engaged specialist consultants Deloitte Access Economists for the project, who assembled a renowned team of specialist professionals with a wide range of expertise in urban analytics, economic development, urban design, sustainability, transport and infrastructure, tourism and leisure management, strategic and structure planning.

The Health and Education Precinct strategic vision was also officially launched at the event by Minister for Education, Rob Stokes. Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian also made an appearance, and awards were presented to Jim Marsden OAM and Lisa Wilkinson AM for their efforts in promoting Campbelltown City to a broad audience.

Phase 1 of the project did not include physical works, but provided the first step towards clarifying the vision of the CBD and its future as a vibrant, dynamic, active centre for the greater Macarthur region. Throughout this process, the consultant team held meetings with an extensive range of stakeholders groups, and undertook a number of tours of the CBD and surrounds to establish context and understanding of the issues and challenges the CBD faces.

The next step of the Reimagining Campbelltown will be to develop an economic masterplan, as well as an implementation plan.

For further information on the Re-imagining Campbelltown project, please visit: 

https://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/Business/ReimaginingCampbelltown

What is Single Touch Payroll (STP)….

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is a government initiative to streamline and simplify the way businesses report to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Each time an employer pays employees through a Single Touch Payroll enabled software you will be reporting the employees salaries and wages, allowances, deductions and other payments, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and superannuation information to the ATO.

Your payroll frequency (cycle) does not need to change. You can continue to pay your employees using your current pay cycles.

Employer checklist to help you get ready

Step 1. Take a headcount of the current employees you have on 1 April, 2018. If you have 20 or more employees on that date, you are considered a ‘substantial employer’ and will be required to report through STP enabled payroll software from 1 July 2018. If you have 19 or less employees, Single Touch Payroll reporting will be optional until 1 July 2019.

It should be noted that counting your employees is purely by headcount, not a count of your full time equivalent employees.

What is an employee for headcount purposes?

•  full-time employees
  
•  part-time employees
  
•  casual employees who are on your payroll on 1 April and worked any time during March
  
•  Australian resident employees based overseas
  
•  any employee absent or on leave (paid or unpaid)
  
•  seasonal employees (staff who are engaged short term to meet a regular peak workload, e.g. harvest workers).
  

Do not include:

• any employees who ceased work before 1 April
  
• casual employees who did not work in March
  
• independent contractors
  
• staff provided by a 3rd party labour hire organisation
  
• company directors
  
• Office holders, e.g. President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, etc.
  
• religious practitioners
  

If you are part of a company group, the total number of employees employed by all member companies of the wholly-owned group must be included.

Step 2. Review and possibly update your payroll solution.

A payroll solution is the accounting, business management or payroll software you use to pay your employees. If you are using a payroll software solution or service provider you will need to confirm with them that they will be STP enabled by the due date.

What if I don’t have a payroll solution?

There are a number of options available if you don’t have a payroll solution:

• You can speak to your tax agent to determine which payroll solution would best suit your business.
• You can use a registered tax agent or payroll service provider to report to the ATO on your behalf
• You can check which payroll solutions are Single Touch Payroll enabled in the product catalogue on the Australian Business Software Industry Association (ABSIA) website and choose one of them.
• The major software and payroll services providers are either ready or committed to be ready for STP to be available and it is best to check with your provider and make sure your software is updated to be able to report by the due date.

A payroll provider that we have recently used and can recommend is CloudPayroll.

CloudPayroll is an online based payroll solution who will automatically manage the STP process on clients’ behalf as part of the standard service. CloudPayroll is suitable for small to medium size businesses from 1 employee up to several hundred. Migration, implementation and training, is all taken care of by their experienced friendly payroll experts. Ongoing, unlimited support is provided by phone or email for no additional fee.

Penalties, exemptions and deferrals

When you commence reporting through Single Touch Payroll the first 12 months will be a transition period.

During the first 12 months of reporting through Single Touch Payroll you will be exempt from any administrative penalties for failing to report on time, unless the ATO have already given you written notice advising that a failure to report on time in the future may attract a penalty.

The ATO may grant you an exemption from Single Touch Payroll reporting if you are located in a rural area with no reliable internet connection or you are classed as a substantial employer for a short period of the income year – for example, due to harvesting activities.