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FORCE ACCESS - A DIVISION OF THE FORCE GROUP OF COMPANIES

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FREECALL 1800 674 777 www.forceaccess.com.au

Harmer Contracting Pty Ltd

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New era in shoppingBy PHIL JACOB

COLES will today unveil itsmulti-million-dollar revampof its fresh food businessin a move expected to createup to 1000 jobs and see thebig red dot announce therefurbishment of its 750stores nationwide.

Featuring ‘‘stores withinstores’’, Coles said its new

five-year plan will featurestores with cafes, cheese barsand upmarket delicatessens.

The revamp, which is ex-pected to cost in excess of$90 million this year, will seethousands of tailored, newproducts unveiled acrossthe country

Coles marketing and storedevelopment director SimonMcDowell said: ‘‘The success

of Coles now and into thefuture is dependent upon usremaining totally focusedon our customers and creat-ing an outstanding experi-ence every time they shopwith us.’’

As well as more than 1800new products availableacross three landmark newlocations opening later today— each of the new-look stores

will feature additions in-cluding a ‘‘Coles Kitchen’’ al-lowing shoppers to selectfrom a range of freshly pre-pared takeaway options suchas sandwiches, baguettesand sushi.

Coles last year flagged thepossibility of supermarketswithout checkouts.

‘‘The smartphone is goingto be so much more import-

ant to people going forward,’’Coles managing director IanMcLeod said.

‘‘I can envisage storeswhere people have all theircredit details in their phoneand are able to pay withoutphysically having to go tocheckout counters.’’

German shopping outletMetro recently adopted a sys-tem where a radio frequency

identification (RFID) tag isprinted on to items, withthe tag instantly able totransmit information about acart full of groceries. Usingcredit cards synced to a mo-bile device, the transactionwould be transmitted andcharged to a linked account.

RFID tags are already usedin toll-point devices, pass-ports and library books.

ntnews.com.au l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l BUSINESSWEEK

Sarah Brown with Yuendumu residents Mavis Wayne and Jeannie Collins as they receive dialysis Picture: JUSTIN BRIERTY

Award for bush tucker programBy KATINA VANGOPOLOUS

A SOCIAL business modelout of Alice Springs whichencourages renal dialysispatients to make bush tuckerhas won the inaugural Ethi-cal Enterprise Award.

The not-for-profit, non-government indigenous-governed health organis-ation, Western Desert, wasrecognised for its attempt toreach out at a grassroots

level to patients with kid-ney disease.

Western Desert’s model al-lows patients to make andsell bush tucker and medi-cine for personal income. Ot-her profits go back to fundthe organisation’s services.

Dialysis nurse and West-ern Desert chief executiveSarah Brown said it felt likethe organisation had wonbefore last week’s ceremonyin Melbourne.

‘‘This social enterprise hasonly been in swing for18 months,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s been a big surprisejust to get to the final.’’

Ms Brown said thepatients’ focus on somethingmeaningful during treatmentwas ‘‘a beautiful thing’’.

‘‘Patients who were awayfrom home missed their bushtucker and medicine,’’ shesaid. ‘‘The smell is enough toremind them of home. It’s

also a way they could haveincome and pass culturalknowledge onto their kidsand grandkids.’’

It has been a big week forWestern Desert which alsowas recognised at the Nat-ional Disability Awards forExcellence in AccessibleCommunities.

It was praised for its PurpleTruck mobile dialysis unit,which travels to remote com-munities to treat patients.

RBA happy to leaveinterest rates aloneTHE Reserve Bank of Aust-ralia kept the cash rateunchanged for a fourthstraight month, and anotherrate cut in the new year isnot a certainty.

The decision to leave therate at a record low of 2.5 percent was fully expected,with all 14 economists sur-veyed last week forecastingno change at the RBA’s Dec-ember board meeting.

RBA governor GlennStevens reiterated that thelocal economy is starting torebalance away from onemainly driven by miningand resources investment.

‘‘There has been an im-provement in indicators ofhousehold and business sen-

timent recently, but it is stillunclear how persistent thiswill be,’’ Mr Stevens said

Commonwealth Bankeconomist James McIntyresaid sustained strength inthe housing and equity mar-ket was bolstering the viewthat rate cuts over the pasttwo years were taking effect.

‘‘The recent run of datahas probably delivered interms of demonstrating pol-icy is having an impact onthe economy,’’ he said.

‘‘The improvements inhousing finance, price risesand lift in building ap-provals are consistent withpolicy driven recovery.’’

The next RBA board meet-ing is not until February 4.

Mining company isa proud TerritorianWESTERN Desert Re-sources Limited (WDR) hasgone through a transition tobecome registered in theNorthern Territory whilealso gaining a new director.

The new chapter for themining company comes as anatural progression, WDR’smanaging director NormGardner said.

‘‘It has been a logical stepto ensure we are basedwhere our assets andbusiness are,’’ he said.

‘‘We have always con-sidered ourselves as a Terr-itory company, this nowmakes it official.’’

The move comes as theRoper Bar iron ore project is

close to its first export. Theproject covers 1900 squarekilometres within fourexploration licences.

Chairman Rick Allert saidMr Mathieson’s experiencewas welcomed.

‘‘Bruce is renownedthroughout Australia as awise, experienced and verysuccessful businessman,’’he said.

‘‘We look forward to hisinput at a board level.’’

Mr Mathieson, an engin-eer, was previously chiefexecutive of Australian Le-isure and Hospitality GroupLimited, which owns morethan 300 hotels and employsmore than 3000 staff.