News from the CEO

20/06/2011

Well it's certainly been an interesting year so far, with a tumultuous first quarter. We experienced our usual manic December and worked to capacity and above. However, there has been a noticeable and substantial drop in our economy this financial year. This is hurting our business and therefore must also be affecting our clients.

In my search for answers, I came to the conclusion that there are a number of factors:

• The Japanese earthquake and tsunami - (I discovered that a lot of components for flat screen TV, American car manufacturing and many others are made in Japan.)
• New Zealand's earthquake
• Carbon tax - this is causing uncertainty in the economy with businesses unsure how this will affect their costs and are naturally skeptical and cautious, therefore not spending.

Add to this the on-going effects of the global financial crisis, an election in New South Wales, floods in Queensland and Victoria, bushfires in Western Australia... it's tough out there. It has been a hard couple of years in business.

What are we doing about it?

We are stepping up our sales teams and adding to our management staff. We now have more sales people in our Sydney team than ever before and more senior account management.

Welcome to our new Queensland Sales Manager, Jason Vince (a Toowoomba boy) who is currently refining his team. We also welcome a new Sales Manager in Victoria, Mathew Curran and congratulations Wendy Bourke who has now been appointed Western Australia's State Manager. It is marvelous how people can get to the top in our business. Wendy started as an Account Manager in Melbourne, progressed to employment in Brisbane, all in all I think she has been with the company for 19 years (with a few breaks in between.) Hopefully, she has settled in to the position she aspired to and I know all Westerners will benefit from her vast knowledge and experience.

Times are tough in business. We are doing our best to provide a place for you to do business as a client, to work for us as staff and receive on-going business as drivers.

So, let's rise to the challenge before us and work together to adapt to the changing conditions. We look forward to developing on-going tailored solutions to meet your individual needs.

Colin McDowell
CEO