Melbourne Business Information

Before we tell you how to do business in Melbourne, let’s take a quick look at the Melbourne history…

Founded by free settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement in Australia,
The famous Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850s transformed Melbourne from a small pastoral settlement around the Yarra River into a vibrant metropolis.

So much so that in 1865, Australians called the city “Marvelous Melbourne.”

Melbourne even served as the temporary national capital of the Federation of Australia in 1901 until the construction of Canberra in 1927.

The city of Melbourne (pronounced Mel-ban NOT Mel-bourne) is located in the south-eastern part of Australia and has the second highest population of any Australian city – approximately 3.7 million.

Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria and is home to over 70% of all Victorians. The positive outlook of its people makes Melbourne a great place to do business.

Today, Melbourne is a major center of commerce, industry, and cultural activity. Melbourne has a well-deserved reputation as the ‘Cultural and Sporting Capital of Australia’.

A series of polls have seen Melbourne voted one of the most liveable cities in the world.

So what is it like to do business in Melbourne?

Melbourne business owners are:

• Hard work
• open to new ideas
• Entrepreneurial
• Friendly
• Passionate about the city and football!
• progressive
• Returning to the Internet in large numbers

Melbourne is home to three of Australia’s largest business corporations:

1.Telstra

2.BHP Billiton

3. and the National Australia Bank,

The Business Council of Australia, the Melbourne Business School, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and many of the major companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange are based in Melbourne.

Many multinational corporations also have their Australian headquarters in Melbourne.

TRIVIA:

• Melbourne is “the third largest Greek city in the world” according to the 2001 Australian Census, there were 151,785 ethnic Greeks in the metropolitan area and 40.4 per cent of all Greek Australians live in Melbourne.
• Melbourne has some of the best restaurants in Australia, making it the perfect city for a good business lunch.
• Melbourne is home to one of Australia’s most comprehensive business websites Melbourne Business Portal
• Melbourne’s current mayor, businessman John So, was born in Hong Kong and was recently re-elected for a second consecutive term. His positive attitude and sincere passion for ‘all things Melbourne’ have endeared him to people all over Melbourne.
• Today, 650,000 people live, work and visit Melbourne’s city center every day, an increase of 25% from just four years ago.
• Experts say that by 2014, that number will rise again to more than 50 percent. In less than ten years from now, the city center alone will house one million people every weekday.

If you are considering doing business in Melbourne, my advice is to go for it. Melbourne is great!