Posts in category: Client News

Southern Gold Coast and Tweed Coast developer Sherpa Property Group has unveiled a new name and brand – Freedom Beach Homes – for its $60 million pipeline of luxury home developments.

The new brand will be applied to the company’s existing Bilinga and Rainbow Bay projects, as well as a new project at Cabarita in northern New South Wales which is expected to be unveiled within months.

The company’s Scenic Ridge project at Bilambil Heights, which is expected to be finished in mid-2020, will not be re-branded.

Sherpa Property Group Managing Director Christie Leet said the new umbrella brand had been designed to provide clear differentiation for the company’s unique product.

“We build high-quality beach homes, not cookie cutter apartment buildings, and we think there is a real and growing market for the product,” he said.

“It is a product type that has been woefully neglected for decades on the Gold Coast where developers have only been interested in delivering a slightly different version of the building next door with smaller apartments and a higher yield.”

Sherpa launched the $10 million The Golden Four luxury beachfront housing development at Bilinga late last year and is preparing to launch a new $30 million, 16-home project at Rainbow Bay next month.

The company has also recently acquired a new development site at Cabarita where it is planning a new $20 million housing project.

The Golden Four project, the first of its kind on the Gold Coast for 30 years, received final approval earlier this month (March) with preliminary civil works due to commence shortly.

Sherpa has focussed on the identification of development sites suitable for traditional subdivision, with stand-alone homes on individually titled lots with no body corporate.

Projects are structured to allow buyers to complete the purchase of the land and then work with a builder to customise pre-approved home designs. The structure of the purchase contract means buyers can save hundreds of thousands of dollars on GST and Stamp Duty.

Mr Leet said that in many instances’ buyers can get a new home on their own land for roughly the same cost per sqm as an apartment which has huge ongoing Body Corporate expenses.

“Body Corporate living is not for everyone,” Mr Leet said. “We want to make sure people have the Freedom to choose how they live and are not forced into apartment living for no other reason than lack of choice.”

For more information visit thegoldenfour.com.au or call 0420 653 722.

With a high failure rate among mining projects in Australia, more rigorous feasibility study standards that align to staged study objectives need to be mandated according to project management and advisory firm, Siecap.

“A robust feasibility study can make or break a project,” said Siecap Managing Director David Irvine. “It is critical in securing funding from investors and addressing the critical success factors of the project.

“It’s important to think strategically and consider what stage a project is at – concept, pre-feasibility, feasibility or bankable feasibility and understand the requirements and critical success factors to successfully move to the next stage, or move on altogether.

“Unfortunately, we see many mid-tier companies not getting this right in terms of striking the right balance with technical, commercial and social requirements with what they’re trying to achieve.”

A report from global consulting group McKinsey, Optimizing mining feasibility studies: The $100 billion opportunity, has found that more than four out of five mining projects came in over budget with over half recording an average budget overrun of 49% – and this was just for those projects that reached production phase.

So, what goes wrong?

There is no universal standard for feasibility studies and study processes remain largely unchanged in the past 20 years leading to an imbalance between technical, social and capital raising requirements.

“However, the parameters for projects have changed greatly; mines are becoming bigger, deeper, steeper, more remote and higher risk to develop owing to lengthy approval timing, community opposition or lack of social license and as a result, are far more susceptible to delays or cost overruns than ever before,” Irvine said.

“Too often, companies spend the wrong amount of time and money on misaligned concept and prefeasibility study stages, and not getting the correct balance of detail and certainty from the technical components than is warranted at this stage of the project.

“With project proponents’ appetite for risk generally at an all-time low, decision-makers are often trying to eliminate as much risk as possible, demanding increased detail and certainty, and this is driving costs in the feasibility phase.

“Where too much has been spent in the early studies phase, few companies or decision-makers have the confidence to walk away and can keep projects alive longer than justified.”

According to Siecap, risks are also often poorly understood. Strong experience will identify the fatal flaws and how sensitive a project is to volatile parameters like commodity prices or environmental concerns. Good project managers and experienced teams play the most valuable role in aligning and prioritising core elements of a good feasibility study.

While the best projects will still get funded, raising capital for projects has been getting harder particularly in the upstream space where uncertainty on timing and hence return on investment is a key consideration.

Irvine said that investors are looking for lower risk, higher shareholder returns and stronger capital discipline from their targets. 

“With a reputation for high levels of spending, gold plating assets or not living within its means, the resources industry is struggling to compete with alternate investment streams like technology, money markets and treasury securities.”

Requirements for Feasibility Success

With at least 25 percent of projects failing post feasibility, Mr Irvine said it is vital that a feasibility study ensures it balances the requirements of technical, economic/commercial, social/environmental factors and critically prioritises capital raising requirements.

A rigorous feasibility study must to be managed in stages to meet the clear objectives and scope of the stage the project is trying to move through, be supported by robust research, validate the value and cost drivers of the project, be subject to independent review and address core concerns of the audience including critical success factors. 

About Siecap

Siecap is an independent project management and advisory firm offering services across the project development lifecycle including advisory, feasibility studies, as well as project assurance and independent review services and project delivery. siecap.com.au

Publicis Australia takes out Best of Show at the 2019 Brisbane Advertising and Design Club (BADC) Awards for their Great Barrier Reef campaign, scUber, for client Tourism and Events Queensland, collecting the largest overall haul of 18 medals and finalist placings.

Winning three gold, two silver and a bronze for the scUber campaign, chairman of judges Dantie van der Merwe said, “In this serious environment we live in it’s getting harder and harder to be fun. It’s even harder to create awareness for a very serious issue in a fun way. It’s this perfect balance that made this work a clear stand out.”

The Great Barrier Reef is a world heritage listed natural wonder, but negative media coverage following bleaching events had hurt its reputation worldwide. Tourism and Events Queensland needed to change the conversation and stimulate global tourism interest in the reef. Publicis’ solution: create the world’s first rideshare submarine on the Great Barrier Reef, called scUber, by creating a global partnership between client Tourism & Events Queensland and Uber. From the window of the submarine, Publicis and TEQ showed the world the reef like never before, a unique and vibrant underwater world teeming with life.

The campaign results were spectacular, generating a massive 4,320 pieces of live global news coverage and over 4.5 billion opportunities to see the campaign. The publicity coverage was valued at over $130 million (ASR). View the Best of Show piece here

Video advertising delivery specialists Peach sponsored the BADC Awards which were held on Saturday night at Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane. With nearly 600 people in attendance, the awards night, hosted by Daniel Connell, was the largest in recent years. A quality field of over 640 entries vied for recognition in over 90 categories.

ROMEO Digital followed with the next overall number of medals and finalists, awarded a total of five gold, three silver, three bronze and another three finalists. ROMEO was awarded for their outstanding digital work for client Queensland Museum for Anzac Legacy Gallery and Anzac AR Correspondent App and also for Queensland Surf Life Saving for Life-Fi. Taking home Gold for Innovative Use of Digital and UX Design – Life-Fi is a wireless network that only works between the flags on the beach where beachgoers can connect their phones and receive critical information on beach conditions in their own language.

The night also belonged to a number of smaller independent agencies with JSA Creative, Flip, GrowthOps, and Theola also taking home record medal hauls.

Client of the Year was awarded to not one, but two clients. Presenting the first award to Queensland Museum for their work with ROMEO Digital on the ANZAC Gallery and AR App, Dantie van der Merwe said: “The first winner actually made the judges quite jealous. This work was big, intelligent, world-class in its digital thinking and rounded off with a beautiful commitment to craft.”

Signet Packaging was also awarded gold and bronze for their work with small independent agency Brainheart for their work: Official Packaging Supplier of Air Guitar Australia. van der Merwe said: “The judging panel felt that it’s as important to reward the crazies, the fun and the entertaining. The power of humour is often underrated in today’s serious world. It’s refreshing to see fun creative work for a category that could be considered dull and boring. Every client should study this work and ask themselves the question, ‘Are we being brave enough?’”

Hall of Fame Induction

Inducted into the BADC Hall of Fame with a number of heartfelt nominations was Rob Kent, recently retired managing director of the mighty Mojo.

Jo Millington, client service director of VMLY&R said of Rob: “The suit of all suits, the iconic Rob Kent. Rob steered Mojo for over 25 years and his impact continues to flow throughout our creative industry today. He hired, (sometimes fired), mentored, shaped and influenced the industry’s best and brightest. People left, they often returned. He created and sustained one of the most revered agency cultures in Brisbane advertising and he made magic for his clients.”

BADC president Stuart Myerscough said: “What a fantastic night with the industry celebrating some truly fantastic creative work. Both the volume and quality of world class work on display is a real testament to the health of Brisbane’s thriving creative community. It’s also fantastic to see not one, but two clients of the year getting acknowledged and I truly hope this inspires more clients to be bold and place greater trust in their agencies, working with them in partnership. Fortune favours the bold, but without client bravery, some of the most innovative ideas can end up in the bottom drawer.”

All the finalist and medal work can be viewed online at badc.com.au. 

Brisbane-based, family-owned food manufacturing business Trisco Foods has been recognised for its commitment to taking locally developed products to the world.

Trisco was recently named Premier of Queensland’s Exporter of the Year 2019 at the annual Queensland Export Awards.

Trisco Foods produces world class food ingredients, such as syrups and sundaes, that are used here and abroad by leading food companies. It has a strong presence throughout the Asian region and has been exporting for many years. This year, Trisco opened a factory in Colorado Springs to service demand in the United States.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the award was a deserved win for a family that was always innovating and always striving to provide high quality products and service to clients here and overseas.

The Premier said the company’s production and warehousing facility is located in Brisbane with many of the raw materials grown and processed locally.

“The first factory was a small building of two rooms attached to the rear of the family home in Hope Street, South Brisbane,” she said. “From these humble beginnings the business has grown into a huge success story and we’re extremely proud of this Queensland business from Brisbane taking on the world.”

Tristam Foods CEO Mike Tristram said the company had worked tirelessly in recent years to expand its international footprint through new product development and innovation.

“It is a cliché, but this is a genuine team effort with many people contributing to our success,” he said. “Our goal is quite simple. We want to create unique and innovative food solutions and take them into new markets, both in Australia, the US and across the globe.”

The Tristram family is well known among older Queenslanders as the name behind the soft drink with the marketing slogan, “Say Tristrams Please”. The brand and soft drink business were sold to Cadbury Schweppes in 1970 when the Trisco Foods company began and the family concentrated on the ingredients business.

After more than 140 years manufacturing a range of food and beverage products in Brisbane, the company earlier this year unveiled plans its first offshore facility in Colorado Springs.

The facility will allow the company to aggressively pursue greater market share for its highly successful Precise Thick-N range of instant liquid thickeners that help maintain the health of people suffering from swallowing problems and neurological-related dysphagia.

The plant will initially produce products from the Precise Thick-N range with up to 75 people to be employed as production ramps up. Over the next five years the company plans to develop and manufacture new products.

The Precise Thick-N range of instant liquid thickeners make soft food and liquids easier to swallow without impacting the nutritional benefits or taste. After just two years the product has achieved strong market penetration and displaced traditional powder-based thickeners in many aged care facilities and hospitals around the country.

Trisco’s global headquarters will remain in Brisbane. The Colorado Springs plant will be used not only to serve the current domestic market, but also have the capability to supply potential new export markets in Europe and South America in the near future.