Top 5 PR Results for Perth Media: December 2019

Australian Vanadium Limited on location (Picture - Sophie Minissale, Perth Media)

As we enter our warmer months and head to the end of 2019, Perth Media has seen a strong flow of media activity for both ASX and small business clients. Our top five favourite results:

 1.       As business investment sentiment rose for gold, Australian Mining reported on our ASX client, Bryah Resources’, multi-pronged strategy of focusing on gold, copper and manganese.

The West Australian/Kalgoorlie Miner also carried the good news story of high-grade results in excess of 30g per tonne emerging from Bryah’s latest Gabanintha drilling  program, and our Perth Media consultant, Celia Pozzecco, filed a report whilst providing on-the-ground support to Bryah MD, Neil Marston, at the Gold and Alternative Investments Conference (GAIC) in Sydney.

 2.       We organised a Perth Press Conference for Australian Vanadium’s announcement on plans for a vanadium processing plant near Geraldton. Local government and community support for the economic boost this will bring was covered by the West Australian. The article noted the benefits of local investment giving rise to lower transport and construction costs as well as increased quality of life for workers living locally. GWN7 News also highlighted potential local investment for Geraldton and the Mid West.

 3.       Australian Vanadium Limited subsidiary, VSUN Energy, saw the announcement of its second battery sale to a dairy farm in Victoria, carried by UK Energy publication, bestmag.co.uk EPL.

 4.       Mirrabooka-based Sudbury Community House became our latest not-for-profit Adapters client, as it commissioned Perth Media to tell an important story of community support empowering those in need. The story detailed their move away from a ‘deficit model’ towards a community approach of individuals being supported towards self-help. The story was published by the WA Business News e-news bulletin and circulated to a readership of 40,000 +.

 5.       Mid-November saw a global media campaign on the release of Renascor Resources’ Definitive Feasibility Study for its Siviour graphite project in South Australia. Multiple news sites carried stories, including Mining.com the Asia Miner, The Pick magazine, Adelaide Advertiser, Miningnews, Australia’s Mining Monthly, S&P Global, Acuris and Smallcaps.

 Janine Taylor – Consultant, Perth Media

Central Banks are Buying Gold and Investors Urged to Follow at Sydney Gold Conference

GAIC: Bryah Resources MD Neil Marston with Perth Media Consultant Celia Pozzecco

Global investors should search for investments in quality gold stocks, as equity markets become more uncertain, according to speakers at a Sydney-based gold conference, writes Perth Media's Sydney-based consultant Celia Pozzecco.

Gold has seen a recent increase in profitability, which is a reverse of trends seen previously. 

Speaking recently at the Gold and Alternative Investments Conference (GAIC) in Sydney, John Mulligan - Director, Member and Market Relations, of the World Gold Council - said: "Gold is now back in investors’ minds... The recent rise in the gold price has finally seen it break out of the side-way trading band in which it has been stuck.

"The gold price has finally decoupled from the US dollar which indicates investors are becoming more risk adverse. The US Federal Bank has changed direction abruptly and globally, and central banks are buying gold. Most importantly, the rising gold price is being driven by speculator and investor interest. US dollar strength will not endure, combined with negative interest rates and negative yield-bearing assets. The ‘new normal’ is low interest rates and low yields. This is all supporting gold investment."

“Equity markets appear to be in bubble territory,” Mr Mulligan noted. Gold price is long-term driven. Historically, it is a growth market, not a cyclical market. Gold investment always moves west to east: The People’s Bank of China was a gold seller for many years. Now it is a gold buyer, he said. In 1989, the bank sold 432 tonnes of gold. In 2018, it bought 657 tonnes of gold.

“The Asian century is about to begin…and gold is an indicator of that socio-economic growth in Asia,” Mr Mulligan said. He also said, in 2009, the European Central Bank ceased selling gold. Central banks of developing nations have emerged as substantial gold buyers. This is indicative of a wider acceptance of gold within the financial system. European private investors are buying gold – 2,630 tonnes in the last decade, while Chinese and Indian private investors are driving up global gold demand. Historically, gold production was dominated by a handful of players, led by South Africa. Now, due to advancing technology, gold has a global production base which helps make it a very stable investment.

Another keynote speaker was Egon Von Greyerz, Founder and Managing Partner, Matterhorn Asset Management. His talk was a rather depressing presentation on the current – and future – state of the world’s declining financial and geopolitical health and how, as a consequence, this is driving gold investment.

“I think we’re facing the greatest risk in history…we’re going to have a very tough time in the world,” Mr Van Greyerz said. There is no point in investors waiting for the storm to pass; they have to “learn to dance in the rain”.

This growing risk is all based on the outrageously high levels of global debt – including current debt and unfunded liabilities such as healthcare and pensions. In 2006, global debt was $125T. In 2019, global debt was $260T. Mr Von Greyerz estimates that by 2025, it will be around $20 quadrillion. Combine this with low interest rates and 10-year negative yields and it is "unprecedented in history”.

“The USA, like the rest of the world, will drown in debt, thanks to hyper-inflationary collapse," he said. Investors should think about having a lot more gold in their portfolios “because then you are looking after yourself. The governments will not have enough money to look after you."

“I might sound like a profit of doom and gloom but I’m just looking at the level of risk and you can’t put your head in the sand.”

This article is one of many featured in 'Adapters', a series in WA Business News exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits.

Media Monitoring from Winter to Spring: Perth Media's Top 5 Recent PR Results

Australian Vanadium Limited COO Todd Richardson

Media interest was high for vertically-integrated Australian Vanadium, Bryah Resources and Adelaide-based Renascor Resources.

Non-mining clients remain as strong as ever, with our Adapters suite of products proving a powerful draw to small business and startups. Here are the top 5 results:

 1. Australian Vanadium Limited (ASX:AVL) appeared in Bloomberg, covering the importance of vanadium price stabilisation for the uptake of the VRFB (Vanadium Redox Flow Battery) by the large-scale energy storage batteries sector.

 2. GWN News interviewed Australian Vanadium’s Todd Richardson about the Federal Government’s recognition of the company’s Meekatharra-based Australian Vanadium Project.

 3. London-based Fastmarkets profiled Renascor Resources’ (ASX:RNU) graphite export plans. ‘Interview: Renascor MD lays out plans for Australian graphite flake development.’

 4. Last month, The Kalgoorlie Miner featured Bryah Resources Limited’s (ASX:BYH) ties with OMM, a subsidiary of OM Holdings (ASX:OMH). Highlighted was the significance of its multimillion-dollar joint venture to power promising drilling programs.

 5. Perth Media’s Adapters suite of products for small business and startups remains an important offering and its uptake is strong, covering areas as diverse as Feng Shui to Oil and Gas Decommissioning. The latter, through Written Adapters, tells the story of Perth startup Ajero Pty Ltd.

Janine Taylor - Consultant, Perth Media

Coming Soon: Perth Media's Adapters Podcast with Torrance Mendez

Perth Media consultant Torrance Mendez, a seasoned professional and one-time news reporter, this week begins a new Adapters podcast series, interviewing small businesses and organisations about their history, products, dreams and innovations.

He will be working this afternoon from our partner recording studio at a Vic Park location.

The first guest is Jackstar Bookkeeping’s Jackie Roufail!

Media Monitoring: Perth Media's Top 5 Recent PR Results

Perth Media continues to log excellent results. Our top five recent include three ASX-listed clients as well as two of Perth Media’s Adapters clients: one utilising our Written Adapters service and the other advertising her brand through our first ever Adapters Film.

 1. Australian Mining Review’s ‘In the Spotlight’ series focused on Renascor Resources Managing Director, David Christensen.

 2. Prestigious global financial publication Acuris/Mergermarket featured Bryah Resources after an interview at Diggers & Dealers last month: ‘Bryah Resources could seek further JV opportunities as manganese strategy advances.’

 3. Adapters Film is up and running. Here is the first: Marina’s Ambrosia short film.

 4. Several clients appeared in Stockhead, including Australian Vanadium Limited, on lower vanadium prices prompting new Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) developments.

 5. Through our Written Adapters product, Raj Singh of RealIQ outlined his novel co-living accommodation developments in India.

- Janine Taylor, Consultant, Perth Media

Adapters: Perth's Real IQ Seeks Investment for Co-living Accommodation in India

Real IQ’s Raj Singh has launched Boston Living

Perth entrepreneur and real estate owner, Raj Singh, is teaming with an Indian property development group to deliver a revolutionary form of co-living accommodation in India that aims to attract Australian investors.

His real estate company, Real IQ in Northbridge, signed a joint venture with INCOR Group of India to provide fresh, purpose-built homes for university students and IT professionals in the teeming sub-continent.

“About 13 per cent of Indians migrate to other states for education, employment or marriage opportunities. That’s more than 150 million people,” Mr Singh says. “About 50 per cent of them are aged 18 to 35, and they need a place to live. Existing rental stock, which is not organised, is grossly inadequate to meet demand.”

Co-living is the answer, he says. For a set fee, tenants get purpose-built apartments with all essentials, including furniture, laundry, cooked food and even Netflix TV.

Two people who may or may not know each other cohabit separate beds in a one-bedroom unit; four people in a two-bedroom unit and, in each case, they share lounge, kitchen and toilet. As well, there are premium studio units for one person, targeted at the business community.

“We’re not selling apartments,” Mr Singh says. “We take the whole building and operate it like a hotel. It’s a new way of tenanting apartments that is more efficient and less costly. And funkier.”

Fully furnished homes will cost 10 to 15 per cent less than what tenants now pay, with the bonus of better locations, services and quality, inclusive pricing and onsite security staff.

Mr Singh says they fill a growing need for good accommodation in bustling hubs of education and technology in the metros of Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The target group is millennials – 18 to 35-year-olds – comprising students and professionals, a significant number of whom hold well-paid jobs with global tech giants.

Real IQ’s joint venture partner, INCOR Group, is one of South India’s most respected corporate houses in real estate. The group services more than 3600 families and INCOR has a penchant for building well-knit and vibrant communities. Through the Omni chain of hospitals, comprising six hospitals with more than 850 beds, the group also has a major presence in healthcare. In view of the considerable unmet need for organised accommodation, INCOR has launched Boston Living, a co-living brand that seeks to create a unique living experience.

Boston Living is renovating a former 260-room block of flats in Hyderabad to provide 500 co-living beds, to demonstrate the lifestyle. A new 500-bed development in Chennai is scheduled for completion in six months, to be followed by another with 1500 to 2000 beds in 18 months. A new 1000-bed complex is planned for Bangalore. Land is already set aside. Boston Living aims to incorporate 15,000 to 20,000 beds of premium co-living by 2023.

Mr Singh plans to fund the project by pitching to Australian institutional investors and high net worth individuals. Australia’s low interest rates will lead investors to diversify into emerging overseas markets, he predicts. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s economy is geared to double in five years’ time, spurred on by regulatory changes to attract foreign investment.

Mr Singh was born and raised in India and has more than 17 years’ experience in real estate in New Zealand and Perth.

He took note of India’s booming economy and spent 18 months researching its property market and tax structures, the latter to provide solutions for investors outside of India.

Mr Singh teamed up with property developer, INCOR Group, where an old friend, Surya Pulagam, was at the helm. They planned co-living projects under the banner, Boston Living, to meet accommodation demands of an increasing number of young people in fast-growing cities.

“Our goal is to get the millennials to switch to co-living from traditional home rentals,” he said.

According to his research, India’s 3.6 million beds in the shared rental market in 2018 will grow to 5.7 million by 2023. Co-living’s 2.6 per cent of rentals will grow to 8.3 per cent in that timeframe.

Nearly 40 per cent of India’s millennial workforce are migrants. About 4.7 million migrant millennials are employed in the service sector across India’s top seven cities, a figure expected to increase to approximately 7 million by 2023. Most of them stay in unorganised rented accommodation.

For more information please email: raj.singh@realiq.org

This article is one of many featured in 'Adapters', a series in WABN exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits.

Perth Media's 'Adapters Short Film' Launches with Marina's Ambrosia

Marina Herlihy, of Marina’s Ambrosia, is Perth Media’s first Adapter’s Short Film

Perth Media Adapters are now available as short films, as well as 600-word written columns.

Adapters is a Perth Media brand that profiles news stories about small businesses, start-ups and not for profit organisations in Australia. After one year trialing a successful written content service, the company is extending the Adapters service to video productions - Adapters Short Films.

Marina’s Ambrosia is the first one!

Adapters has profiled many dynamic people driving innovative Australia enterprises so far.

Some of these became subjects in the Adapters print series published online by WA Business News. They gave thousands of readers an insight into the people creating our new work environment.

Perth Media services have adapted and grown to meet rising demand for video production.

“We’re finding more and more clients want to use film to tell their stories and connect to customers ,” Ms Rocchi said.

“So we are offering clients the opportunity to make short videos about their products and services, at a modest fee. Many have tried to make films themselves at home, but found the quality has been poor and they appreciate the input of media professionals. It also saves them time and stress, they don’t have to worry about being amateur film makers now. They can just visit our Nedlands office, talk to an interviewer and our team with produce a fabulous short film.”

Client companies will be able to use videos on their websites and in media releases and social media and YouTube channels, knowing the material is professionally produced and edited.

“We expect our business community will be interested in this service as a means of keeping up with modern media,” Ms Rocchi said. “Client businesses evolve, and we must, too, if we are to offer a comprehensive, useful service.”

Perth Media, which is based in Nedlands, Perth, began in 2015 and is owned by Ms Rocchi, a former finance reporter. Her journalism experience took her from WA and into some of the world’s biggest financial publishing houses in Hong Kong and London.

“I imagine Perth Media will offer more media content services to dovetail with videos,” Ms Rocchi said. “We will be guided by feedback from clients. But what we can say is that we continue to see a big future for video, and we are improving our services to assist our clients connect with their customers and stakeholders.”

This article is one of many featured in 'Adapters', a series in WABN exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits.

Adapters: Third Perth Festival of Healing to Promote Alternative Treatments for Wellbeing on May 26

Ann Joel and Michele Vos Castle

Wellbeing experts, Ann Joel and Michele Vos Castle, will hold the third Perth Festival of Healing this weekend in which psychic and spiritual healers, sound and colour therapists and energy healers of various disciplines take centre stage.

A free-to-enter festival, it will showcase various alternative methods of addressing illness. For those attending, the event will be an introduction to new ways to treat bothersome ailments and bring comfort in the face of terminal disease.

It is the third festival that Michele Vos Castle (of Complete Feng Shui), a Feng Shui Master and past owner of a wellness centre, has organised with Ann Joel, an international healing medium. Thousands of people flocked to their popular first two offerings held last year.

Independently, the two women had reached one conclusion – small business owners in Perth’s alternative healing industry lacked funds or expertise to market their skills.

Without a showcase, the public were ignorant of available treatments, known as modalities. And so, the idea of a festival of healing was borne, to help businesses and educate the public.

“Over 2000 people came through the door at our first festival in City West Function Centre in March last year,” Ms Vos Castle said.

Some weeks later, she was in conversation with a woman who recalled the 'amazing' festival, unaware that Ms Vos Castle was an instigator. The episode showed the festival was a winner.

It was no surprise when the second festival repeated success of the first, leading to this third event.

Ms Vos Castle recognised the need for a festival when running her wellness centre. Adept at networking, she has been a strong advocate for small business and organised small healing fairs before launch of the festival.

Most festivalgoers want to address personal misfortunes, ailments and illnesses of varying degrees of seriousness. Others seek knowledge about achieving peace and happiness. Both groups are exposed only to Western Australian healers and products.

For Ann Joel, who organises the festival with Ms Vos Castle, the event gives meaning to her remarkable journey of self-discovery that took her around the world.

Domiciled in Perth from 14, the young woman was forging a career in public relations when, in 1978, she was in a car crash that left her in a neck brace with a paralysed left arm.

She continues: “When the doctor said after a year that they could do no more for me, and I was still in a neck brace, I was taken to a spiritual healer in Perth who I saw every week for two years.”

When improvements arrived slowly, she quickly rebooted her PR career, rising to Myer divisional manager and an executive in Dallas Dempster’s Burswood casino project and other high-profile posts.

She built a PR firm with nine staff but burnt out by 1993 and moved to Sydney, seeking greater tolerance of spiritual healing. There she met an indigenous healer who profoundly affected her.

Soon she opened a spiritual energy clinic and in New York she was ordained an interfaith minister. She worked in China, the US, Canada and the UK.

Three years ago, she relocated to Perth to be with family and built a nationwide clientele as a non-religious spiritual healer. The festival is a pet project. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do since returning to Perth.”

This year’s event offers more space than before and it is tipped to be the biggest festival yet.

The Perth Festival of Healing will be at the Cannington Exhibition Centre and Showgrounds on the corner of Albany Highway and Station Street, Cannington on Sunday 26 May 2019.

This article is one of many which have featured in 'Adapters', a series exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, startups and not-for-profits in WA Business News.

Adapters: Balcatta Panel & Paint on Fixing Hi-tech Cars and Car Craft Crash-repair Quality

Andrew Jaques inspects a quality repair.

A Perth panelbeater has found that life-saving technology featured in modern cars and SUVs can greatly increase the cost of repairing these vehicles to manufacturers’ standards.

Andrew Jaques, owner of Balcatta Panel and Paint, says modern cars act like computers on four wheels and keep drivers and passengers safe with advanced sensor technology.

But a bingle in a vehicle with hi-tech safety features can cost much more to fix than a minor collision in a car not so well equipped.

“For example, blind-spot sensors fitted behind bumpers of new cars are actually a little radar,” Mr Jaques said. “As soon as you replace one you have to have the car recalibrated by the dealer.”

Recalibration increases the repair bill. He said replacing a sensor on a Kia Stinger, a luxury sports sedan that starts at $52,000, was costly.

“You think, Kia – inexpensive brand, but the sensor is $1700 plus GST,” he said. “After that we have to bring it to the Kia dealer to have it recalibrated, so you’re talking about more than $2000.”

Reversal into a roadside pole can incur a new sensor. “And that amount doesn’t include the cost of the bumper and paintwork repairs,” he said. “We always try to offer competitive pricing for private repairs, but we highly recommend getting insurance that will cover these types of expenses.”

Mr Jaques is an exemplar in the car repair business, after buying into it six years ago. His background in aviation led him to focus on high quality work that he insists on overseeing personally.

“The owner of the business has skin in the game,” Mr Jaques said. That approach helps safeguard the business in an evolving marketplace. “There’s always room for us as a niche repairer.”

Balcatta Panel and Paint is in the nationwide Car Craft crash-repair network that originated in WA in 1987 to improve industry standards. Mr Jaques and staff undergo tutorials to maintain quality.

He arrived from his native Sweden 30 years ago, having started working life as a pastry cook and chef who owned an American-made V8 Valiant at 16 when still too young for a driving licence.

In Perth he indulges a lifelong passion for cars from a spick and span workshop in Balcatta’s business community. “Our team is highly qualified, and we deal with local customers and businesses. We love to help getting fleet cars back on the road, and we offer priority services for local businesses.”

Away from work, it’s more cars. Mr Jaques is a member of the American Car Club of WA. “It’s a great way to connect to other passionate car lovers and sometimes I even bring the family along,” he said. For more information please visit www.balcattapanelandpaint.com.au.

Adapters: Journeys of the Spirit's April Bhutan Tour Will Help Business People to be Happier

Owner of Perth-based Journeys of the Spirit, Julie Baker, Runs Extraordinary Tours

Perth entrepreneur Julie Baker is tapping into demand from a growing number of people who are seeking relief from stress.

Her WA company, Journeys of the Spirit, guides business owners and professionals on two-week sojourns of self-discovery in mystical locations that include Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon.

She hit on the wellness formula by packaging her two passions – spiritual health and wellbeing, and travel. These she markets in journeys and retreats aimed at rebalancing stressed individuals.

“I am a business person,” Ms Baker says. “I love business, I love creating businesses and I love creating different business models.”

Stressed souls experience spiritual awakenings in Bhutan, Spain, Italy, India, Japan, Scandinavia, Peru, France, Hawaii or some other destination.

Ms Baker describes her ideal client as a successful person who is still not feeling happy. “They realise their version of success doesn’t necessarily make them happy,” she says.

It took her more than three decades and three travel-related businesses to produce Journeys of the Spirit, motivated in part by a devastating childhood experience at 15.

“My mum was misdiagnosed with menopause at 48 and had a mental breakdown,” Ms Baker says. The teenager stopped eating meat and gained a juvenile understanding of there being more to life.

It helps explain her captivation with Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom the size and population of Tasmania landlocked in the Himalayas between superpowers China and India.

“Bhutan is the only place in the world that is 100 per cent certified organic,” Ms Baker says. “And wealth is not measured by GDP – it’s measured by Gross National Happiness.”

The scenery is an awe-inspiring panorama of rivers, mountains and verdant slopes. Journeyers, as Ms Baker calls them, are housed in three to four-star accommodation with private bathrooms.

They are immersed in Bhutanese community life, consuming some of the freshest produce on Earth and seeing how simple living and family values are central to happiness.

The experience aims to redefine their understanding of success.

One journey follows the trail of 8th century Indian sage, Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan. It ends at breathtaking Paro Taktsang monastery, perched perilously on a cliffside.

Guides are all business owners. Prospective journeyers must first discuss their expectations, and are supported in their physical, emotional and mental preparations.

Ms Baker is proud of one seasoned traveller who had owned several businesses before going on one of her journeys to Bhutan. He said afterwards: “I learned to measure success in a different way.”

The next Bhutan journey runs from April 15 to 28. For more info go to: Journeys of the Spirit website.