a city transformed Shared Services Prospectus ADVANTAGE WOLLONGONG 2018 advantagewollongong.com.au from Wollongong City Lord Mayor Wollongong is a city transformed. Wollongong’s economy is diversifying and experiencing strong growth with key sectors driving this change, including Knowledge Services, Traditionally known for its world class Advanced Manufacturing and Defence. Wollongong also boasts a steel making and coal mining industries, number of business advantages including a highly skilled workforce, Wollongong today is an important high staff retention rates and competitive business costs. A recent knowledge services centre, a globally report on Wollongong’s Shared Services Industry by Deloitte found that salary costs are 85% of Sydney costs, rental costs are 50% of connected international trade hub and Sydney CBD costs and staff retention rates are 95% compared to 75% home to a world-class university with a in Sydney. focus on encouraging innovation. The University of Wollongong continues to expand and grow, with Wollongong lies on the narrow strip between the Illawarra 32,942 enrolled students studying at 10 locations in 5 countries escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, approximately 80km south of across the world. The University is rated in the top 1% for graduates Sydney. It provides a superb lifestyle between the mountains and the as rated by global employers and the top 2% of world universities. sea, a supportive business environment and access to a highly skilled The University is also home to the Innovation Campus and the workforce. new $16.5 million iAccelerate Centre, which together make up an innovation precinct with strong links between research and industry, The Wollongong City Centre has seen a $1.3 billion investment over helping to create new opportunities for jobs and growth. the past 4 years, with a further $300 million in the pipeline and increasing interest from national and international investors. Major I encourage you all to take a look at what Wollongong has to offer and projects recently completed have included a $200 million upgrade what it can do for your business. of Wollongong Central, the city’s premier shopping precinct; the Wollongong City Lord Mayor new $120 million Wollongong Private Hospital and the $134 million Cr Gordon Bradbery AM expansion of the Wollongong Public Hospital. Australia’s most Australia connected regional city: Sydney Sydney International Airport Distance 80kms, 1hr by road Port Kembla Harbour Wollongong Distance 5kms, 5mins by road Canberra Canberra Distance 240kms, 2.5hrs by road University of Wollongong Location % Economy TOP 1 FOR GRADUATES AS RATED 80KMS BY GLOBAL EMPLOYERS FROM SYDNEY CBD Recent investments $12.3B RATED IN THE GROSS REGIONAL PRODUCT % $200M 1HOUR POPULATION TOP 2 WORLD UNIVERSITIES UPGRADE TO WOLLONGONG SOUTH OF 211,201 SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL FORECAST TO INCREASE CENTRAL AIRPORT BY OVER 20% FIRST IN AUSTRALIA FOR IT NEW $120M BY 2036 LEARNING & TEACHING WOLLONGONG PRIVATE HOSPITAL $1.3B $134M CITY CENTRE INVESTMENT 270GLOBAL ACADEMIC EXPANSION IN THE PAST 4 YEARS Connectivity OF WOLLONGONG $300M IN PIPELINE & RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS HOSPITAL 7.6MW HOUSES & UNITS Property TIER 3 ARE PRICED 80,000 DATA CENTRE $750,000 35-40% SQM OF MEDIAN HOUSE VALUE DA APPROVED NBN LIVE LESS WHICH OFFERS THAN THE GREATER OFFICE SPACE $560,000 SYDNEY AVERAGE IN THE CITY CENTRE <2 MILLISECOND MEDIAN UNIT VALUE (RESIDEX) DATA CONNECTIVITY (CORELOGIC, SEPTEMBER 2017) The Wollongong 1 Globally connected 2 Superb liveability Wollongong offers a competitive base for Wollongong provides an enviable coastal businesses to benefit from access to domestic lifestyle for people of all ages. and global markets. Affordable living: Houses and apartments across Digital: Most locations in Wollongong offer double Wollongong are currently priced around 35-40% less and triple fibre redundancy options. To complement the than the Greater Sydney average (Residex). Residential already existing high quality broadband technology, NBN is choices range from coastal villages in the north, beachfront currently being rolled out across the city. apartments in the city centre, spacious family homes in leafy suburbs to rural acreages further south. Road: Wollongong is located just one hour south of Sydney International Airport and connected to Sydney Coastal lifestyle: Located just south of the Royal by the M1 motorway, as well as being close to the Hume National Park, Wollongong’s spectacular natural Highway corridor and the proposed Badgery’s Creek environment includes 17 patrolled beaches framed by Airport. the backdrop of the Illawarra escarpment, offering an abundance of recreational activities to enjoy. Port: Situated just 5km south of Wollongong, Port Kembla is NSW’s largest motor vehicle import hub and grain export Bar/café culture: The city has experienced a burst terminal, and second largest coal export port. of activity within its bar and café scene with over 65 new venues opening in the past three years. Rail: Wollongong is part of the Sydney train network which helps to transport the majority of grain and coal coming Quality infrastructure: Wollongong offers relatively into the port. short journey to work times and reduced costs, while also being well-connected to Sydney. Its quality health Air: Quick and easy access to Melbourne and Brisbane infrastructure includes a major teaching hospital and a through daily direct flights offered at the Illawarra number of private hospitals. Regional Airport. 3 City of Innovation 4 Supportive business environment Home to a sophisticated and well developed Wollongong provides a supportive environment innovation eco-system that supports industry with considerable advantages for businesses collaboration and excellence. located in the area. University of Wollongong: The University of Competitive costs: With competitive rents and Wollongong has earned a place among the top 20 wages compared to Sydney and higher than average modern universities in the world through world-class staff retention rates, Wollongong provides significant research and teaching, and routinely rates among the top cost savings in an increasingly competitive and global Australian universities in key areas including graduate commercial environment. satisfaction and starting salaries. Consistently ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide, it is also an Industry base: A significant strength is the size international centre of research excellence that ranks in and diversity of the economy with a number of large the top 1% for research quality. national and multi-national companies already part of the business landscape. Supporting these businesses are Innovation Campus: The University of Wollongong’s a range of professional services including leading legal, Innovation Campus is an award-winning research, financial, accounting, human resources, marketing and IT technology and commercial precinct. Set on 33 hectares companies. by the beach, the $600 million site encourages innovative organisations from around the world to co-locate with UOW’s Skills: Wollongong has an experienced and skilled leading research institutes, with 1,500 people currently workforce, with the city’s multicultural population also living, working and studying on the campus. ensuring a broad mix of foreign language skills, making the city an ideal location for companies with international iAccelerate: The iAccelerate Centre, the region’s first connections. Around 20,000 Wollongong residents purpose-built business incubator, provides a permanent commute to Sydney each day for work, providing an home for 280 entrepreneurs across 4,000 square metres. attractive pool of potential employees for any business With the aim to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs operating in the city. 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. The in Wollongong The Shared Services Sector is a significant part A recent Deloitte study on the industry of Wollongong’s growing Knowledge Services in Wollongong revealed compelling industry, with over 85 locations employing benefits when compared to Sydney. 6,000 in this sector. By choosing Wollongong, employers can benefit from a LEASING STAFF SALARY skilled and stable workforce, allowing reduced recruitment RETENTION RATES ARE COSTS ARE and training costs and retention of corporate knowledge. COSTS ARE Wollongong’s multicultural population serves as another potential benefit, with a broad range of language skills 95% available with local employees. IN WOLLONGONG 50% COMPARED TO COMPARED TO 85% SYDNEY COMPARED TO 75% SYDNEY IN SYDNEY CBD SALARY COSTS image: Stellar BPO Wollongong office ‘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 ‘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