Western Entrepreneurs Honoured

Western Australia’s top entrepreneurs have been acknowledged at the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Western region awards ceremony in Perth.

Ernst & Young Perth Office Managing Partner, Michael Anghie said this year’s Western region winners were well-deserving of the awards, demonstrating vision, passion and determination to succeed.

“Entrepreneurs inspire others with their innovative approach. By challenging the status quo they create significant economic benefit and social change,” Anghie said.

The Western region winners and award recipients will travel to Sydney in November to contend for the title of 2012 Australian Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year at the national awards.

The overall Australian winner will then go on to compete in the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year awards in Monte Carlo next year.

Winners of the 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Central region awards, by category, were:

2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year category winners, Western
region

Category: Emerging
Sasha de Bretton – Million Dollar Makeovers
Sasha de Bretton spent 15 years renovating an average of three homes per year. Juggling her hobby with her job, she had created an exceptionally fast renovation system to get everything done during her annual leave. She realised that the concept of rapid renovations creating immense profit was something the market needed. Million Dollar Makeovers carries out complete renovations of houses and mansions in record times. Sasha plans to increase the company’s income streams through franchising and expanding to the eastern states

Category: Industry
Dale Alcock – ABN Group
Dale Alcock started his career as an apprentice bricklayer in 1979 and launched Dale Alcock Homes with business partner Garry Brown-Neaves in 1987. Today, the Alcock Brown-Neaves Group (ABN) is a financial, property and construction services group of twenty companies. Turnover has grown by 250 per cent since 2004. Today, it is the largest private apprentice training program in the building industry in Australia. Dale was nominated for Australian of the Year in 2012.

Category: Services
Daniel Tucker – Carey Mining Pty Ltd
In the 1990s, Daniel Tucker established something unheard of at the time in Western Australia – an Aboriginal owned-and-managed mining company, focused on providing real opportunity for Aboriginal people. Carey Mining Pty Ltd began trading in 1995 and is now the largest 100 per cent indigenous, privately-owned-and-managed contracting company in Australia. Daniel draws on his experience to advise other indigenous business start-ups and is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on the concept of indigenous participation in large mining companies.

Category: Technology
Damione Wright – Performance On Hand
While working for a New South Wales energy utility, Damione Wright noticed the extent of hand injuries caused by inappropriate occupational glovewear. He established Performance On Hand to “better the productivity and health of working hands”. Performance On Hand manufactures and distributes high-performance work gloves to enhance productivity and safety. Performance On Hand has seen 200 per cent growth in the last two years, with an EBIT margin of 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Category: Social entrepreneur
Professor Peter Klinken – Western Australian Institute for Medical Research
Professor Peter Klinken was appointed Director of the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) in 2002. He has been the driving force behind the recruitment of outstanding national and international medical researchers to Western Australia, with research staff numbers rising from 35 in 2002 to over 200 in 2012. Professor Klinken was instrumental in securing $200 million in funding from the Federal and State governments, and the University of Western Australia, to fund the construction of new WAIMR research facilities.

For more information on the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year programgo to www.eoy.ey.com.au.