Briefcase: Business Snippets from around South Australia
In this week’s Briefcase, the Whyalla Steelworks administration has been extended and a global consulting firm opens an Adelaide office. Plus the latest business events.
- Local wines bring home international accolades
- Steelworks administration extended as blast furnace goes offline
- Guildhouse partners with two SA wineries
- Space Machines Company to lead space assets defence program
- Global consulting firm opens in SA
- Aus Post report reveals growth in online shopping in SA
- Wavemaker Adelaide named media agency for Health Partners
- SA Power Networks to deliver portfolio of community batteries
- Funding boost for AI diagnosis of endometriosis
- Rundle Mall leads country with low vacancy rates
- Festival season boosts small businesses
Local wines bring home international accolades
South Australian wines have taken out awards at the Mundus Vini Grand International Wine Awards, one of Europe’s largest and most prestigious international wine shows.
This year’s event saw Clare Valley winery Taylors Wines awarded the ‘Best of Show Australian White’ for its $22 Estate Label Sauvignon Blanc 2024. Meanwhile, Barossa Valley’s Schubert Estate took out ‘Best of Show Australian Red’ for its Lone Goose Shiraz Viognier 2021.
South Australian wineries secured 31 out of the 34 Grand Gold and Gold medals in the contest, which managing director and winemaker for Taylors Wines, Mitchell Taylor, believes comes at a perfect time for the Australian wine industry following the lifting of the Chinese tariffs in early 2024.
“Accolades like these help shine the spotlight on our wines globally and provide us the opportunity to speak about our wines and the stories behind them,” Taylor said.
Steelworks administration extended as blast furnace goes offline
Administrators of OneSteel – the operator of the Whyalla Steelworks – have been given an extra 12 months to complete their investigation into the facility’s problems and find a buyer for the company.
The update, confirmed by the Federal Court, comes as the steelworks’ blast furnace was shut down for a brief period last week for maintenance.
In court documents, administrators requested the extension to the administration period because of problems it was having in terms of stabilising the business and how it was “difficult… to obtain a complete set of the books and records of OneSteel”.
“As at the date of this affidavit, the Administrators are yet to receive unfettered access to the books and records of OneSteel. We anticipate that we will need to issue numerous requests for information and documents and if this is unsuccessful or too slow may need to take steps to compel those with access to OneSteel’s books and records to produce them,” reads the affidavit of administrator Lara Wiggins.
“We need to conduct further investigations to better and more fully understand the precise quantum and size of all creditor claims. We expect the task will take months to complete, particularly given the claims asserted by associated entities of OneSteel.”
Administrators KordaMentha now have until 20 March 2026 to convene the second meeting of creditors.
Guildhouse partners with two SA wineries
Arts peak body Guildhouse has announced partnerships with Eden Hall Wines and Stage Door Wine Co.
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The partnership with the two “represents a shared commitment to fostering creativity, sustainability and artistic excellence”, Guildhouse said.
“Together, Guildhouse, Eden Hall Wines, and Stage Door Wine Co. look forward to supporting the local arts community through future collaborations, exclusive events, and meaningful engagement with artists.”
Space Machines Company to lead space assets defence program
Adelaide-based Space Machines Company will develop space-borne perception and intelligence technology for space domain awareness via a project supported by funding from Defence Trailblazer’s Accelerating Sovereign Industrial Capabilities program.
Space domain awareness is the understanding of the space environment and the objects therein, including predicting the behaviour of known and unknown objects and determining threats.
SMC’s project aims to develop a ground-based proximity operations robotic test bed for space-borne perception and intelligence, to help spacecraft understand their immediate environment.
“The technology developed in the project underpins a range of proximity operations and servicing applications such as high-resolution inspection, satellite servicing, space control and space debris management,” SMC project lead Mark Ramsey said.
The project will be delivered in collaboration with the University of Adelaide’s Sentient Satellites Laboratory, SmartSat CRC’s Scarlet Lab and Space Control STC at Defence Science Technology Group.
ThincLab: In Conversation with Tobi Pearce: ThincLab, the University of Adelaide’s start-up incubator, presents “In Conversation with Tobi Pearce” on Tuesday, March 25.
Space – A Game-Changer for Mining, Medicine and Mankind: Join AmCham for a luncheon about how space exploration has the potential to benefit humankind on 3 April.
Official AFL Gather Round Business Lunch: Presented by the AFL and the South Australian Business Chamber, the lunch brings together the AFL industry and the wider South Australian business community on 11 April.
William Buck 2025 CFO Summit: The summit will address pressing issues facing businesses, like AI and ESG, as well as discuss the state and national economy on 14 May at the Adelaide Oval.
2025 AEDA Business Summit, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas will attend the summit and will be joined by a stellar lineup of business leaders and industry experts on 20 May at the Adelaide Oval.
Mastering Marketing: The Australian Marketing Institute is bringing together some of South Australia’s top Chief Marketing Officers for a one-day seminar on 21 May at The Drive.
Global consulting firm opens in SA
A global consulting, engineering and operating firm has taken up residence at Lot Fourteen’s Defence and Space Landing Pad.
Egis will expand its Australian footprint into SA after it acquired Welland-based Omada Rail which specialises in rail signalling and telecommunications.
“Egis sees exciting opportunities in South Australia,” Egis ANZ CEO Alex Yee said.
“Egis has had a long interest in South Australia having previously owned a stake in Flinders Ports.
“We are excited to be expanding our business in South Australia, recently being engaged as the engineering partner for the airport runway upgrade in Whyalla along with pursuing opportunities in defence, water and housing development in the state.”
Aus Post report reveals growth in online shopping in SA
New data from Australia Post’s ‘eCommerce Report 2025’ has found 80 per cent of South Australian households engaged in online shopping in 2024 — a 4.9 per cent increase from the year prior.
Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Craigmore residents recorded the highest online shopping activity in the state. Across all three areas, online marketplaces (including Amazon, eBay and Catch) remained the most popular category, followed by fashion (men’s, children’s and accessories), and then women’s fashion.
While Adelaide recorded increased online expenditure, other major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra saw more restraint, attributed to factors like “higher household debt, higher home prices and a greater sensitivity around higher interest rates”.
The highest growth in online shopping across the state was recorded in Two Wells, Goolwa and Munno Para West.
The report also revealed that Australians spent a record-breaking $69 billion in online shopping in 2024, marking a 12 per cent increase from the previous year — the highest yearly growth since 2020.
Wavemaker Adelaide named media agency for Health Partners
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After more than a decade of being managed interstate, Health Partners has returned its media agency rights to a South Australian firm: Wavemaker Adelaide.
Wavemaker will manage all media strategy, planning and buying for the health insurance provider.
“Bringing this account back to South Australia is a huge win, both for us and the local industry,” Wavemaker Adelaide managing director Phil Mumford said.
“We’re excited to collaborate with a values-driven organisation like Health Partners and are confident in our team’s expertise and fearless approach to deliver exceptional results, positively provoking growth for the business.”
SA Power Networks to deliver portfolio of community batteries
SA Power Networks will trial three battery use cases across South Australia, including at Robe and Lameroo where two batteries will be installed to provide support to the state network.
Four batteries will also be designed to support the installation of electric vehicle fast chargers in regional towns across SA.
Finally, two batteries will be designed to ensure community services are maintained in areas vulnerable to widespread power outages, especially during extreme weather.
SA Power Networks said it had commenced engagement with councils in potential deployment locations to identify sites that meet the specific criteria.
Funding boost for AI diagnosis of endometriosis
The University of Adelaide’s IMAGENDO study, which uses artificial intelligence to help diagnose the chronic disease, received nearly $500,000 in federal government funding.
The study’s goal is to reduce the length of time it takes to get diagnosed with endometriosis, which currently affects one in seven women in Australia.
Currently, endometriosis can only formally be diagnosed with laparoscopic surgery, but the IMAGENDO team are working to make imaging the main way to confirm the disease.
“Our aim is to reduce the diagnostic delay from 6.4 years to one year, and this grant will make a huge difference to making that a reality,” said program manager Dr Jodie Avery.
This comes as parliament’s landmark inquiry into the impact of endometriosis in South Australia made recommendations last week to reduce the time it takes to diagnose the disease and improve the quality of life for people living with it.
The funding will allow researchers to collect global data for the first time so they can eliminate bias in the AI system and advance the current prototype to a “regulatory-ready diagnostic tool”.
Photo: Adelaide Economic Development Agency.
Rundle Mall leads country with low vacancy rates
New data from the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) shows vacancy rates in strip-facing tenancies on Rundle Mall have dropped from 5 per cent to 3.4 per cent as of the end of Q4 2024.
This puts Adelaide ahead of strip malls in Melbourne (7.2 per cent), Sydney (7.6 per cent), Brisbane (14.1 per cent) and Perth (22.6 per cent), according to CRBE’s latest report.
AEDA Rundle Mall executive manager Andrew White said the positive downward trend in retail vacancy reflected “major brands recognising the strength in Adelaide’s retail market,” with foot traffic at 54 million annual visitors along the 520-metre-long mall.
Just four tenancies remain vacant along Rundle Mall after the opening of watch boutique The Hour Glass, the launch of Supré and the reopening of Sportsgirl in the coming months.
Festival season boosts small businesses
Small businesses in the East End experienced the busiest weekend this 7-10 March long weekend with approximately 250,000 people visiting according to foot traffic data from the Adelaide Economic Development Agency.
The long weekend coincided with the Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Fringe, WOMAD and Adelaide Motorsport Festival with foot traffic up 51 per cent over the same weekend in 2024.
Fringe ticket sales are totalling 980,000 and Adelaide Festival attendance is at 365,000 people. Over 687,000 visits to the East End were recorded during the first three weekends of the Fringe. This is an increase of 40 per cent on 2024.
“Traders [are] experiencing a surge in demand, particularly in the areas where events are happening,” said Adelaide Economic Development Agency Chair Steve Maras.
