CBD
On Monday morning the Melbourne staff of BHP Billiton move into their spanking new head office on Collins Street, and what a brave new world it will be in the post-Marius Kloppers era.
CBD's operatives managed to sneak into the shiny new HQ this week to take a look around, before the hoards descend.
The mining boom, as one would expect, has done pretty well by the Big Australian.
The office walls are adorned with just a small selection of the company's multimillion-dollar art collection.
No International Roast or Lipton tea bags in the canteens for BHP Billiton staffers.
Instead, all five floors are dotted with spanking new espresso machines, along with baristas to assist the more senior staff.
The tea areas even dispense free Tim Tams.
The 18th floor is home to the great horseshoe-shaped BHP Billiton board table, and the whole floor is cleared and turned into an executive suite for the five-odd days a year that Melbourne hosts board meetings.
CBD even managed to get into the office of chairman Jac Nasser.
It wasn't hard to find - the chairman of the board is, in fact, the only person in the whole empire to get a private office.
CEO Andrew Mackenzie has decided the entire "GMC" - that's BHP-speak for "group management committee" - will now work in an open-plan office.
Wiping out the private enclaves of the BHP leadership team was one of the first changes Mackenzie implemented when he arrived at the Big Australian.
But it's not the only thing the Scot has changed.
Many items once banned from the office under the Kloppers regime - including pot plants, eating at one's desk, smelly food - are now back in vogue.
The new on-site cafeteria even serves a decent aromatic curry, made by catering giant Big Group, as well as hot soup. Both were famously banned from the offices under Kloppers.
Down and out?
Look out, Mazu Alliance, Quoin and Viculus. Your time could be up.
If chief stockbroker Elmer Funke Kupper has his way, he will evict these kings of the illiquid stocks.
ASX on Thursday released a policy paper seeking to delist entities if their securities have been suspended from trading for a continuous period of three years.
This, Funke Kupper argues, will address issues raised about suspended entities being "left in limbo" for too long.
More than 100 ASX-listed entities currently have their securities suspended from official quotation.
Of these, close to 70 per cent have had their securities suspended continuously for 12 months or more.
A small number have had their securities suspended for up to a decade. Reasons for suspensions range from failure to lodge financial reports to failing to pay a listing fee. Appointing an administrator also draws a suspension.
Mazu, the operator of "religious shrines and ancillary activities", has been suspended since 2003.
Times are tough as Mazu attempts to push ahead with the development of the premier site for worship of the goddess Mazu in China's Fujian province.
Industry heavyweight Quoin has been suspended since 2001. Its core business of affordable hotel accommodation in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands has recently expanded into ancillary services. These include bars, food and gaming in the Solomons.
The core business of Viculus (suspended since 2002) is a bit more hazy. It is "in the business of seeking a business to purchase", it says.
New recruits
One potential candidate could be recruitment specialist Hamilton James & Bruce. Staff at the ASX-listed player will no doubt be sending their CVs to recruitment firms after HJB on Wednesday placed itself into administration.
HJB's fee income had experienced a downturn (see employment story on previous page), said chief executive Grahame Doyle. A recent round of cost cuts and restructuring was not enough to restore profits.
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Twitter: @ejohnno
Ben Butler is on assignment.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
BHP Billiton has moved into a new Collins Street head office in Melbourne featuring an impressive art collection, espresso machines and baristas on every floor, free Tim Tams in tea areas, and an 18th-floor horseshoe board table used for occasional board meetings. For investors, the fit-out and cultural changes illustrate management’s emphasis on a refreshed corporate image and workplace culture under the new leadership.
CEO Andrew Mackenzie has shifted the leadership team into open-plan working for the entire Group Management Committee (GMC), wiped out many private enclaves, and relaxed previous bans from the Kloppers era. Items such as pot plants, eating at desks and smelly food are back in vogue, and the new on-site cafeteria serves aromatic curry and hot soup—signalling a more informal, collaborative office culture.
According to the article, the chairman of the board, Jac Nasser, is the only person in the company to get a private office in the new Melbourne HQ. The rest of senior management work in open-plan arrangements.
The ASX has released a policy paper proposing to delist entities if their securities have been suspended from trading for a continuous period of three years. The move, endorsed by chief stockbroker Elmer Funke Kupper in the article, aims to deal with companies that have been left in limbo by long suspensions.
The article says more than 100 ASX-listed entities currently have their securities suspended from official quotation. Close to 70% of those have been suspended continuously for 12 months or more, and a small number have been suspended for up to a decade.
The article names several long-suspended firms: Mazu (suspended since 2003) pursuing a worship-site development in China’s Fujian province; Quoin (suspended since 2001) with core hotel operations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and recent expansion into bars, food and gaming; and Viculus (suspended since 2002), which describes itself as ‘in the business of seeking a business to purchase.’
Hamilton James & Bruce (HJB), an ASX-listed recruitment specialist, placed itself into administration after a downturn in fee income. Chief executive Grahame Doyle said recent cost cuts and restructuring were insufficient to restore profits, prompting the administration move.
If the ASX proceeds with delisting entities suspended for a continuous three years, many illiquid or long-suspended stocks could be removed from the exchange. As the article notes, this is intended to address concerns about suspended entities being ‘left in limbo,’ and could particularly impact smaller or deeply suspended companies that haven’t resolved the issues that triggered their suspensions.
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