Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards

May 2019 Winners

Emerging Business

Omni Recruit
Omni Recruit is a locally owned recruitment firm that started on the Gold Coast in August 2014. Offering permanent recruitment and labour hire services for a range of clients, they now have offices in Brisbane and Adelaide and service clients as far away as Townsville and Darwin. Starting with 3 employees in a small office in Bundall, their permanent team has now grown to 16 staff and payrolls up to 400 casual employees each week from their Gold Coast head office.

Family Business

Coast 2 Coast Earthmoving
Coast 2 Coast Earthmoving is a family owned business that was started by Kevin Bycroft in 1967. He was joined by sons Robyn and Ross in 1969 and in 1998 the reigns were handed over to the third generation of the family. The company specialises in bulk earthworks, excavation and demolition works. The company has operations on the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast and a fleet of more than 200 earth-moving machines.

Retail, Wholesale and Distribution

YCL Jewels
YCL Jewels designs and creates jewellery for the modern and mindful woman. The jewellery, which were first created in founder Fabienne Costa's childhood bedroom as a hobby, is now popular with many women around the world, including well-known celebrities Delta Goodrem, Jennifer Hawkins and singer Lorde. Each piece of jewellery is designed by Fabienne, who also hand-makes many of YCL's pieces in their Gold Coast-based studio and exports to over 90 different countries.

Construction and Trades

Surf City Cranes
Surf City Cranes was established in 2006 by Jon and Sharon Morrish with just one just crane. In 2019, the fleet now includes 17 cranes, 3 trucks, 4 manitous, ancillary equipment, a depot and 40 staff. Expanding into the Sunshine Coast and Northern New South Wales, Surf City Cranes now also provides labour hire, truck hire and soon traffic control.

Manufacturing

Lauxes Grates
Lauxes Grates designs and manufactures versatile indoor/outdoor drainage solutions. Starting out in 2014, selling kitchenware, bathroom-ware and lighting products, CEO Tim Dawson developed a prototype linear floor grate which is now stocked by many tiling, plumbing and hardware stores throughout Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. Lauxes Grates now employs 24 staff and has warehouses in WA and Victoria.

Professions and Business Services

Protest Engineering
Protest Engineering provides a broad range of construction materials' testing, and engineering services. Some of these services include assessing slope stabilities, house slab and footing assessments, onsite sewage disposal planning and environmental investigation and management. Established in 2015 with 4 staff, Protest Engineering now employs 75 staff and has offices in Queensland and Victoria.

Health and Wellbeing

The Source Bulk Foods Gold Coast
Tom and Sharon Barrett own The Source Bulk Foods Gold Coast, which offers shopping the old-fashioned way without plastics or packages. Their Miami franchise store opened its doors in September 2014 and due to its success they opened a second store in Southport in April 2016. The Source Bulk Foods outlets offer quality organic, biodynamic and chemical-free products totally waste free.

IT and Digital Business

OntheNet
OntheNet is a highly successful broadband and internet services provider based at Varsity Lakes. Of their 40 staff, most work in a technical role, with OntheNet having a history of building and managing IT solutions in-house. Servicing many clients across various industries such as local government, tourism, education and professional services, OntheNet will celebrate its 25 year anniversary later this year.

Tourism, Hospitality and Events

Temp Chef Labour Hire
Launched in 2015 by Craig and Lucy Johnston, Temp Chef Labour Hire provides temporary chef and staffing solutions to clients in the remote hospitality industry. Created to support the remote hospitality industry, the business has grown from 4 staff to 40. The business services multi-national clients, and has recently opened its second office in Perth to support the WA market.

Student Employability

Southport Sharks
Southport Sharks is a premier dining and entertainment precinct and is one of the largest clubs in Queensland. Southport Sharks offers a multi-purpose events centre, restaurants and cafes, sporting and fitness facilities and a 120-room Mantra hotel. Southport Sharks works closely with Griffith University to provide a work-integrated learning program for students in the hospitality industry. They now take on up to 5 students a year and provide them with 75 hours of work placement.

Mayor's Innovation GC

Action Smart Group
Action Smart Group specialises in hail repair services and works closely with insurance companies to provide an "end-to-end" service. Established in 2012, Action Smart Group facilitate and manage the repair process on behalf of the insurer from the point of claim lodgement through to the return of the repaired vehicle. With its head office located in Yatala, Action Smart Group has operational sites located across Queensland and New South Wales and has established service provider partnerships to service other states across Australia.