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ADVANTAGE WOLLONGONG

a city transformed

Shared Services Prospectus 2018

Canberra

Wollongong

Sydney

Australia

Sydney International Airport Distance 80kms, 1hr by road

Australia’s most connected regional city:

Port Kembla Harbour Distance 5kms, 5mins by roadCanberra Distance 240kms, 2.5hrs by road

from Wollongong City Lord Mayor

Wollongong is a city transformed. Traditionally known for its world class steel making and coal mining industries, Wollongong today is an important knowledge services centre, a globally connected international trade hub and home to a world-class university with a focus on encouraging innovation.

Wollongong lies on the narrow strip between the Illawarra escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, approximately 80km south of Sydney. It provides a superb lifestyle between the mountains and the sea, a supportive business environment and access to a highly skilled workforce.

The Wollongong City Centre has seen a $1.3 billion investment over the past 4 years, with a further $300 million in the pipeline and increasing interest from national and international investors. Major projects recently completed have included a $200 million upgrade of Wollongong Central, the city’s premier shopping precinct; the new $120 million Wollongong Private Hospital and the $134 million expansion of the Wollongong Public Hospital.

Wollongong’s economy is diversifying and experiencing strong growth with key sectors driving this change, including Knowledge Services, Advanced Manufacturing and Defence. Wollongong also boasts a number of business advantages including a highly skilled workforce, high staff retention rates and competitive business costs. A recent report on Wollongong’s Shared Services Industry by Deloitte found that salary costs are 85% of Sydney costs, rental costs are 50% of Sydney CBD costs and staff retention rates are 95% compared to 75% in Sydney.

The University of Wollongong continues to expand and grow, with 32,942 enrolled students studying at 10 locations in 5 countries across the world. The University is rated in the top 1% for graduates as rated by global employers and the top 2% of world universities. The University is also home to the Innovation Campus and the new $16.5 million iAccelerate Centre, which together make up an innovation precinct with strong links between research and industry, helping to create new opportunities for jobs and growth.

I encourage you all to take a look at what Wollongong has to offer and what it can do for your business.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Cr Gordon Bradbery AM

Location

FROM SYDNEY CBD80KMS

1HOUR SOUTH OFSYDNEY INTERNATIONAL

AIRPORT

Economy

GROSS REGIONAL PRODUCT

$12.3BPOPULATION

FORECAST TO INCREASE

BY OVER 20% BY 2036

211,201

CITY CENTRE INVESTMENT IN THE PAST 4 YEARS

$1.3B$300M IN PIPELINE

Recent investments

UPGRADE TO

EXPANSION OF WOLLONGONGHOSPITAL

WOLLONGONG CENTRAL

$200M

$134M

NEW $120MWOLLONGONG PRIVATE HOSPITAL

Property 80,000 SQM OF DA APPROVED OFFICE SPACE IN THE CITY CENTRE$560,000

MEDIAN UNIT VALUE

HOUSES & UNITS ARE PRICED35-40% LESS THAN THE GREATER SYDNEY AVERAGE (RESIDEX)

$750,000 MEDIAN HOUSE VALUE

(CORELOGIC, SEPTEMBER 2017)

WORLD UNIVERSITIESTOP 2%

FOR GRADUATES AS RATED BY GLOBAL EMPLOYERS

TOP 1%

GLOBAL ACADEMIC & RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS

270FIRSTIN AUSTRALIA FOR IT LEARNING & TEACHING

RATED IN THE

University of Wollongong

7.6MWTIER 3 DATA CENTRE

NBN LIVE WHICH OFFERS <2 MILLISECOND DATA CONNECTIVITY

Connectivity

1 Globally connected 2 Superb liveability

Wollongong offers a competitive base for businesses to benefit from access to domestic and global markets.

Digital: Most locations in Wollongong offer double and triple fibre redundancy options. To complement the already existing high quality broadband technology, NBN is currently being rolled out across the city.

Road: Wollongong is located just one hour south of Sydney International Airport and connected to Sydney by the M1 motorway, as well as being close to the Hume Highway corridor and the proposed Badgery’s Creek Airport.

Port: Situated just 5km south of Wollongong, Port Kembla is NSW’s largest motor vehicle import hub and grain export terminal, and second largest coal export port.

Rail: Wollongong is part of the Sydney train network which helps to transport the majority of grain and coal coming into the port.

Air: Quick and easy access to Melbourne and Brisbane through daily direct flights offered at the Illawarra Regional Airport.

Wollongong provides an enviable coastal lifestyle for people of all ages.

Affordable living: Houses and apartments across Wollongong are currently priced around 35-40% less than the Greater Sydney average (Residex). Residential choices range from coastal villages in the north, beachfront apartments in the city centre, spacious family homes in leafy suburbs to rural acreages further south.

Coastal lifestyle: Located just south of the Royal National Park, Wollongong’s spectacular natural environment includes 17 patrolled beaches framed by the backdrop of the Illawarra escarpment, offering an abundance of recreational activities to enjoy.

Bar/café culture: The city has experienced a burst of activity within its bar and café scene with over 65 new venues opening in the past three years.

Quality infrastructure: Wollongong offers relatively short journey to work times and reduced costs, while also being well-connected to Sydney. Its quality health infrastructure includes a major teaching hospital and a number of private hospitals.

The Wollongong

3 City of Innovation 4 Supportive business environment

Home to a sophisticated and well developed innovation eco-system that supports industry collaboration and excellence.

University of Wollongong: The University of Wollongong has earned a place among the top 20 modern universities in the world through world-class research and teaching, and routinely rates among the top Australian universities in key areas including graduate satisfaction and starting salaries. Consistently ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide, it is also an international centre of research excellence that ranks in the top 1% for research quality.

Innovation Campus: The University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus is an award-winning research, technology and commercial precinct. Set on 33 hectares by the beach, the $600 million site encourages innovative organisations from around the world to co-locate with UOW’s leading research institutes, with 1,500 people currently living, working and studying on the campus.

iAccelerate: The iAccelerate Centre, the region’s first purpose-built business incubator, provides a permanent home for 280 entrepreneurs across 4,000 square metres. With the aim to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs and grow new businesses, the centre is the first of its kind in Australia, being both a business incubator and accelerator that are connected to a world-class, research-intensive university.

Wollongong provides a supportive environment with considerable advantages for businesses located in the area.

Competitive costs: With competitive rents and wages compared to Sydney and higher than average staff retention rates, Wollongong provides significant cost savings in an increasingly competitive and global commercial environment.

Industry base: A significant strength is the size and diversity of the economy with a number of large national and multi-national companies already part of the business landscape. Supporting these businesses are a range of professional services including leading legal, financial, accounting, human resources, marketing and IT companies.

Skills: Wollongong has an experienced and skilled workforce, with the city’s multicultural population also ensuring a broad mix of foreign language skills, making the city an ideal location for companies with international connections. Around 20,000 Wollongong residents commute to Sydney each day for work, providing an attractive pool of potential employees for any business operating in the city.

The

in Wollongong

The Shared Services Sector is a significant part of Wollongong’s growing Knowledge Services industry, with over 85 locations employing 6,000 in this sector.By choosing Wollongong, employers can benefit from a skilled and stable workforce, allowing reduced recruitment and training costs and retention of corporate knowledge. Wollongong’s multicultural population serves as another potential benefit, with a broad range of language skills available with local employees.

image: Stellar BPO Wollongong office

95% IN WOLLONGONG COMPARED TO

75% IN SYDNEY

STAFF RETENTION RATES ARE

50% COMPARED TO

SYDNEY CBD

LEASING COSTS ARE

85% COMPARED TO

SYDNEY SALARY COSTS

SALARY COSTS ARE

A recent Deloitte study on the industry in Wollongong revealed compelling benefits when compared to Sydney.

‘We have clients in most major capital cities. We don’t see geography as a limiting factor – technology enables you to work in a place like

Wollongong and serve our clients all across the country’ Paul Bartholomew, Chief Operating Officer, Unison Outsourcing

‘We had over 2,000 responses for 100 positions, so we had a really good pool of people to choose from. There was a good balance of

senior and junior resources. It was quite easy, it was fantastic.’ Roger Barlow, NSW State Manager, NEC

‘One of the big business benefits of being located in Wollongong is that we can operate at much lower costs

than we could in one of the larger metro areas’ Anita Mulrooney, Head of Customer Service and Marketing, Peoplecare

Well-known companies who have Shared Services operations in Wollongong include:

‘The biggest advantage of being a regional contact centre is the ability to attract people who have a strong service ethic and lower than

industry attrition. Our local workforce is engaged, community-oriented and loyal. Our employees deliver a positive customer experience,

flowing through to better customer retention and client satisfaction’ Jo-Anne Bloch, Leader, Mercer Administration Services

Wollongong Success Stories

NEC Australia, a leading international ICT solutions and services firm, established a new corporate office in Wollongong in 2016, employing 180 people. The new office is the centrepiece of a $40 million investment in the region and will support major customers of NEC across Australia.

Located at the heart of University of Wollongong’s (UOW’s) 33-hectare Innovation Campus precinct, the corporate office allows NEC Australia to harness new opportunities to collaborate with world-class researchers located at the Innovation Campus specialising in fields that align with NEC’s global focus on technologies and solutions.

Mercer is part of the global Marsh & McLennan Companies with more than 22,000 employees serving more than 110 million people. As one of Australia’s leading service providers for large scale superannuation funds, Mercer is recognised throughout the industry for its customer centric approach and is located across 8 locations in Australia.

Mercer Wollongong employs more than 600 people and runs an award winning contact centre. Local employees have expertise in areas such as operations, finance, information technology and project delivery. Mercer is committed to the Illawarra region which is evidenced through partnerships with the University of Wollongong and the Illawarra Business Chamber, and its commitment to local jobs.

Peoplecare is a Wollongong-based, multi award-winning national private health insurer with a strong focus on delivering high-quality customer service and health fund

management. Peoplecare has not only delivered membership growth well above the industry average, but has also grown to include a number of service contracts for other health funds, such as the back-office services on behalf of Allianz Worldwide Partners.

”Other businesses in our industry are keen to benefit from our excellent track record of customer service and health fund management” says Peoplecare CEO Michael

Bassingthwaighte.

Peoplecare is a three-time winner of the Illawarra Business of the Year, three-time winner of the highest Net Supporters of any open health fund in the Ipsos biannual survey and

achieved Aon Best Employer status in 2017.

PeopleCare CEO Michael Bassingthwaighte (front) with Head of Customer Service and Marketing Anita

Mulrooney and Deputy CEO Dale Cairney at the health insurance fund’s Wollongong headquarters.

Stellar is the voice behind some of the world’s most loved brands and is passionate about creating better customer relationships. Named Outsourcer of the Year for the last six years running by Frost &

Sullivan, Stellar have centres across Australia, the Philippines and the USA that delivers services for a diverse client base across a broad range of industries. Stellar is proud of its client relationships, with

92.5% of clients viewing Stellar as a valued business partner in our annual client survey.

Stellar is a proud employer of people in the Wollongong region, with 350 staff operating out of two large locations. Stellar’s people manage inbound, outbound, back of house and social media customer care

for a range of clients including telco, federal and state government, and utilities.

Office

Overview

2018 is seeing an increased interest in the Wollongong property market, following record investment levels of $1.3 billion in recent years and price growth in Sydney forcing investors to seek better yields further south. The spotlight on office property means good news for businesses looking to re-locate or establish their shared services operations here in Wollongong. A recent Knight Frank report indicates that 59% of businesses operating in the Wollongong city centre require office space and demand in the Shared Services Industry is expected to continue, with recent developments including the opening of the brand new NSW State Emergency headquarters and the expansion of Stellar Asia Pacific. Demand for office space has increased in the past 12 months, according to the Property Council of Australia’s latest Office Market Report released in February 2018, with the fall in vacancy rates indicating a healthy local economy.

While vacancy rates are low, investors have recognised the health of the economy and the potential in the office market space, resulting in around 80,000 sqm of DA approved office space in the Wollongong City Centre, which could be delivered in the next 12-24 months.

of Wollongong

Innovation Hub

The University of Wollongong produces world-class graduates, facilitates collaboration between research and business, and fosters new jobs and industries through the region’s business incubator and accelerator.

University of WollongongThe University of Wollongong is a research intensive university with an outstanding reputation for its learning environments across a broad range of disciplines. The University’s commitment to students is evident in its graduates, who are recognised for their capability, quality and success in the global workplace. Locally, the University is a vital part of the Wollongong economy, contributing over $2 billion in gross economic output and providing highly-skilled graduates for local businesses.

Innovation CampusThe University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus encourages innovative organisations from around the world to co-locate with leading research institutions in a collaborative environment. The Innovation Campus is home to a number of organisations that work alongside research institutes focused on materials, sustainability, health and maritime.

iAccelerateiAccelerate is the region’s first business incubator and accelerator and has so far supported 57 start-up companies. iAccelerate provides bright minds with the infrastructure, mentoring and education programs to help them succeed. Entrepreneurs are connected to a world-class university, potential investors and high-quality business advisors.

Industry collaboration

NEC’s decision to establish operations at the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Innovation Campus has led to industry collaboration between the pair, bringing benefits to both NEC and Wollongong’s community. The partnership aims to encourage new employment opportunities in the ICT sector in regional NSW and expand on NEC’s global ambition to capitalise on technology to address pressing societal challenges including ageing populations, the environment, security, and impacts to industry from next generation technologies.

The partnership with UOW includes NEC Australia’s Graduate Program, which offers graduates an opportunity to kick start a career alongside some of Australia’s top technology executives. ‘We’re particularly excited at the possibility for graduates in information and communications technology to be able to work with a global leader right here in Wollongong as well as collaborating with NEC in a range of ICT research areas, in particular in cybersecurity’ said Judy Raper, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at UOW.

Looking to invest in Wollongong?Advantage Wollongong is a partnership between the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Wollongong City Council and the University of Wollongong. Since 2008 Advantage Wollongong has focused on promoting Wollongong to attract new business, investment and jobs.

If you’re considering doing business in Wollongong, the Advantage Wollongong team can help.

Acknowledgements

WCC©1478306.MDP

Mark GrimsonEconomic Development ManagerWollongong City CouncilPhone 02 4227 7166Email mgrimson@wollongong.nsw.gov.auwww.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/city/economicdevelopment

Nigel McKinnonRegional Director Illawarra/South East Office of Regional DevelopmentNSW Department of Premier and CabinetPhone 0418 259 055Email nigel.mckinnon@dpc.nsw.gov.auwww.dpc.gov.au

Canio FierravantiDirector Government RelationsUniversity of WollongongPhone 02 4221 5931Email caniof@uow.edu.auwww.uow.edu.au

Paul FrewAuscontact NSW State Committee Illawarra RepresentativeEmail paul.frew@medibank.com.au www.auscontact.com.au