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Presidents Report to Members 2009 |
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BUSINESS BROKERS ASSOCIATION (WA) INC PRESIDENTS REPORT FOR THE AGM TO BE HELD AT TECHNOLOGY PARK, BENTLEY
27 OCTOBER
2009
The period under review was a mixed year of good news and bad. The global economic crisis came to Western Australia in earnest by November 2008 and funds suddenly became hard to get for business sales with the financial institutions tightening the criteria for lending. Nevertheless, sales continued to be made by those brokers who had the ability to council their vendors to convince the lenders that the businesses cash flow was positive.
The Council Each councillor has their own point of view about things, which makes for an interesting mix of opinions. You could say that Council meetings at times are interesting places to be! March 12 is my birthday and this year I received an unwanted present from our Treasurer, Geoff Inglis, who resigned unexpectedly, advising us he was closing down his two Raine and Horne offices in Armadale and Byford.
After due deliberation we invited Heidi Emery to join us which has proved to be a good move. It is the first time a woman has been on the Council!
Functions for Members We constantly struggle to come up with ideas for members functions and up till now it has fallen on each of us to come up with ideas. What we really need is a councillor who concentrates on this topic. For this AGM, Wayne Copper has stepped up and arranged for Sharon Cork and Simon Montgomery from Macquarie Private Wealth to address us.
December 9, 2008 Christmas lunch at the Celtic Club where the Chairman of the Real Estate Board addressed us on the upcoming National Licensing Scheme (expect substantial increase in your license fees as we feed another layer of bureaucracy).
April 21, 2009 Sundowners at St Thomas More College presentation by Robert Engelhard and Becky Sangster from Englehard Consulting titled “Reviewing business financials in the current environment”.
June 5, 2009 Luncheon in Busselton with Troy Buswell – cancelled, though lack of numbers.
June 16, 2009 State Tennis Centre, Burswood Day seminar arranged through REIWA learning Analysing Businesses conducted by Graham O’Hehir. This was the most informative seminar on business broking that we have ever had. It was the first time Graham has ever presented material to us and we appreciated it. We earnt 7 elective CPD points. 44 brokers from all over the state attended.
July 7, 2009 Free sundowner at Mt Lawley Golf Club. This was an idea by one of our councillors to encourage brokers who are not members of our Association to come along to meet with us. We succeeded in obtaining one new member, Dr Paul Anderson from Warnbro Realty. The liquor tab for this function amounted to $2,000!
August 11, 2009 Joint REIWA/BBA Function We thank Graham O’Hehir for instigating this Carbon Planet seminar presented by Scott McIntosh. Scott explained that Carbon Planet is a national firm of Phd qualified engineers. In 2011 the National Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commences. Emission caps will be placed on various industries. Businesses that cannot reduce their emissions below these caps are required to pay a high penalty rate, or offset their emissions through the purchasing of carbon credits. This is a serious piece of legislation for us as business brokers and the implications of it will have a bearing on the price we place on the business, which will depend on the rating given to it by Carbon Planet.
Upcoming Christmas Lunch – December 8th 2009 at Celtic Club Due to the success of last year’s Christmas lunch the Council have decided to again hold the function, which is a partners event.
New Members Since out Last AGM We welcome the following people who have joined us during the past 12 months:- J.P. Real Estate and Business Agents (John Papamatheous and Jonathan Parker) Rohan Wieske – John O’Neil & Son Real Estate Erica Settineri – West End Settlements Kim Valenti – Valenti Lawyers Brad Potter – Martyn Harris & Associates Dr Paul Anderson – Warnbro Realty Ian Wheatland – Ray White Geraldton Helen Sharman – Associate Dale Norman – BDR Business Accountants – Affiliate Member
AIBB Conference – Melbourne Oct 1-3, 2009 For the first time in three years I attended this annual conference and was pleased I did. It was a good conference. They opened a branch in Melbourne this year which is why they decided to hold it for the first time in Melbourne.
Just prior to the conference their long term President, Garth Griffiths resigned unexpectedly. The young Vice President, Stephen Wray has taken over. He seems like a good bloke and is pretty laid back. I don’t believe he has caught up with the enormity of the job, as yet. One of his goals is to create a National Data base for businesses.
Western Australia was well represented by the following people:-
Graham O’Hehir who presented 14 brokers with their Business Valuers Certificates. Graham contributed to the course content. Ross Goldstein Martyn Harris Ken Schultz Jan Gunnink W Goddard
All of these people are of the opinion that we should become part of the AIBB by becoming the WA Branch.
This is something the Council will look at in the coming months, which will embrace the membership as well, once we gather all the facts.
It would appear to me that the Real Estate Institutes around Australia have all but given up supporting their Business Broking Chapters, which is why the AIBB is growing.
I was told the NSW Institute decided to help their members by producing an Authority to Act Form which was flawed. Consequently, a number of their members lost their commission.
They had 111 registrations for the conference.
I had breakfast with Dale Williams on the Sunday morning. She is on the Conference Committee and was saying they are looking at next years conference being held in New Zealand or Sydney. She made the point Sydney is expensive to run a conference whereas New Zealand would be cheaper but more expensive for the delegates to get there. They will discuss that in the months ahead.
Coverforce – Justine MacDonald Professional Indemnity Insurance Coverforvce have been sponsors of the AIBB for many years. This year Justine MacDonald was on their stand so I met her for the first time. Previously I have only spoken to her on the phone.
She presented to the conference and made the point that they have a special deal for AIBB members who take out their insurance through them. It’s the aspect of Run Off cover when a broker retires or sells his business. If you have been insured with Coverforce for the previous 2 years they will give you Run Off Cover for the next 7 years for free.
I have brought this matter to the attention of Cathi Deany at Unity Insurance brokers as they will need to match that if they want to keep me as a client.
Our Newsletter Congratulations should be extended to David Knowles for his work as editor of our newsletter. He has put a lot of work into developing it into a top publication.
The Presidents Medal For the first time we present the President’s medal to a very worthy recipient in Vice President, Chris Blake. Chris has been my Vice President for 6 years and has done a terrific job during that time in supporting me and the Association.
Vale James Hondros Its with sadness that I advise of the passing of our Past President and Life Member on 14th October 2009.
James had been having heart problems for some years now and unfortunately it gave up on him. He was 77 years. A great worker for this Association he devoted a huge portion of himself to the running of the organisation.
His funeral was on 22nd October 2009.
Bill Goddard President
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