CCBR Business Review

22 M A J O R B U S I N E S S S T O R I E S O F 2 0 2 0 Erina company outfoxing shoplifters In the retail trade its called 'shrinkage,' but it is straight out theft. An Australian-based study has found that shoplifting is surging, with major retailers losing over $3.3 billion last year alone. Shoplifting is so prevalent that it has spawned an entire industry with shoplifters working together and operat- ing their own how-to-steal websites," says Robert Bodill, Co-owner and Managing Director of Erina based manufacturer of a new innovative anti-theft device for cloth- ing stores, FoxGuard Security. For the past fifteen years, Mr Bodill has been importing and distributing a range of technologies in the retail security sector both here and abroad. Since its inception in June 2019, Fox Guard's unique security tag has swept through the retail industry. The results have been phenomenal, with reductions in shoplifting of between 50% to 80% and an average return on investment (ROI) of 12 months or less. His first significant sale was in June 2019 to Rebel Sport who bought 300,000 units for twenty of their stores. Off the back of that successful trial, Rebel is now rolling out Fox Guard across their entire store network. Roses Only picks Coast for growth ROSES ONLY, AUSTRALIA’S largest online flower seller sees the Central Coast and the Lower Hunter as a significant growth area over the next five years and in September 2020 set up a distribution centre at West Gosford to service the area. Chairman and major shareholder, Jack Singleton, said that the location in Enterprise Close, West Gosford to service the region was a decision based on data that showed the Central Coast was the ninth biggest market in Australia and grow- ing, and as a distribution centre across the Coast and into Newcastle West Gosford is the most effective location. Not only that, with the opening of North Connex very soon it will be the right location to service the northern suburbs of Sydney. “The data we have shows that spending on flowers on the Central Coast is strong and growing and the average price per sale is above the industry average,”said Mr Singleton. “We also see a strong market here for corporate gifts,” he said. “Our plan is to have 10 delivery centres servicing the major cities and 10 centres across regional Australia over the next five years,” Mr Singleton said. The company appointed Angela Hewitt, a local per- son, as Manager of the West Gosford centre and is aim- ing to employ around fifteen local staff in the lead up to Christmas. The Central Coast is home to a growing number of flower growers and Mr Singleton said that Roses Only are already doing busi- ness with them. A first for the Coast’s food industry CEO’S OF THE region’s largest food manufacturers met in February to discuss potential collaborations that would benefit both the industry and the region. The CEO’s forum was hosted by Sanitarium at their head office at Berkeley Vale. Commenting on the meeting, Frank Sammut, Executive Officer of Central Coast Industry Connect (CCIC) said. “I have worked in the food sector for over 30 years, and I believe that this is a first for our region to have all the CEO’s of our largest food companies come together to lead the charge for stronger collaboration through- out the sector. This sort of thing doesn’t happen readily and I am excited to see where it leads” he said The Central Coast Food Alliance (CCFA) has created a great foundation off the back of a strong 2019 and saw an opportunity to continue this momentum into 2020 by initiating this industry CEO forum. “Whilst the larger portion and backbone of the food industry is small business, it is impor- tant to recognise that the region has some of the country’s largest food manu- facturer’s head offices located here, and it is vital to have their commitment and col- laboration to see continued growth as a sector “said Dan Farmer, General Manager of the Central Coast Food Alliance. The event was conducted over break- fast and through a round of introductions the desire for collaboration was apparent. Companies represented were Sanitarium, Cordina Group, Mars Food Australia, Agrana Fruit Australia, Life Health Foods and TrendPac. In February 2020 Mr Bodill and Mr Klumper visited the world's biggest retail trade fair, Euroshop in Germany, and while there successfully negotiated to buy the global manufacturing and intellectual rights for the full range of LOXXYS products. Within three months they had set up a USA office and warehouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, appointed a CEO and had made their first sale to a major retailer. Except that the coronavirus hit within a month forcing the business to hibernate until trade-as-usual returns. Business and operational challenges were discussed openly with many areas of opportunity quickly identified. The role for CCFA will be in facilitat- ing collaboration and delivering pro- grammes of change, something that was well received by the forum. “Being that this was a first for the local sector, we wanted this meeting to be all about the industry leaders to get to know each other and build trust. I was really impressed to see such strong commit- ment from the CEO participants to future forums such as this, and it was very clear that they valued the connection, the thought leadership, and the enhanced opportunity to make a difference” said Peter Crane, Chair of the Central Coast Food Alliance. Roses Only Chairman Jack Singleton withWest Gosford Manager Angela Hewitt CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW YEARBOOK 2020