LIFESTYLE, good business opportunities and cheap office rents were some of the attractions of Fremantle, according to Verios Shipman Consulting partner Lee Verios.
“The real essence of Fremantle is that it is a real potpourri of cultures and standards and that’s what gives us this real life,” Mr Verios said.
“You go from old to new, you go from the real hypie to the real business and you go from the artist to the corporate business – that’s the real value of Fremantle.
“But that does not mean we don’t have some very smart business going on down here.”
He said while the offices in Fremantle were often older – many offices do not have airconditioning – they still had access to the same technology.
“Fremantle has that real conglomeration in its own right of all those things a modern environment is going to be looking for in the sense of an interesting environment to work from,” Mr Verios said.
He said there was an incorrect perception in Perth that Fremantle was not leading edge.
“I think there is that perception that you couldn’t get the best legal advice or consulting advice out of Fremantle so you have to go to Perth,” he said.
“There is whole lot of interesting stuff behind the façade of the old heritage buildings.”
The City has an IT group of more than 35 companies doing web page designs and e-commerce development programs.
“Your physical location no longer has to determine the nature and the quality of what you have to deliver,” he said.
“I was in Perth for many years and I never thought of Fremantle as the centre of modern commercial thinking. I thought of it as fish and chip and coffee and that’s what the Fremantle First program is all about – to change that perception.”
Fremantle First is the joint marketing initiative of the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fremantle.
The program forms part of a repackaged Chamber which is changing its constitution with the aim of becoming more relevant to local businesses.
