Shell to close Sydney refinery

June 7, 2012 AAP Oil company Shell will close a Sydney refinery in September, creating uncertainty for up to 275 employees and at least 100 contractors. The company on Thursday informed staff at the Clyde refinery, in Sydney’s west, that operations will stop from September 30. Staff will be supported in finding other employment, either within the terminal operations at the site, or elsewhere within Shell, the company said. Up to 30 employees had already found other jobs, Shell said. The decision to close down comes almost one year after Shell decided to convert the Clyde refinery into a dedicated fuel import terminal. “The initial decision to close and convert Clyde, taken in July last year, was consistent with Shell’s strategy to focus its refining portfolio on larger assets and to build a profitable downstream business here in Australia,” Shell Australia downstream president Andrew Smith said in a statement. “Since…

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Diarise this now

The first AACS Supplier Expo will take place on August 22nd the day of the PJ Scholarship Award Judging and the Gala and Awards Dinner. This will be held at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne from midday. Come and meet with some of the key suppliers to the industry and see the offers that they have, new products and innovative ideas for the Convenience channel and have a cuppa with us. The detail of exhibitors is as follow:

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AACS Convenience Leadership program

“There is still time to reserve your places for the AACS Convenience Leadership program in July. View the Brochure One of our feature presenters on Foodservice is Dr Nancy T. Caldarola, Ph.D., R.D. from the USA. Nancy Caldarola, Education Director for NACS Center for Achieving Foodservice Excellence (CAFÉ), has been involved with the hospitality industry for more than 40 years. She has led the development and delivery of NACS CAFÉ educational programs, including the Certified Convenience Foodservice Manager program and the Advanced Foodservice Strategy and Menu Management programs. She is a frequent contributor to the NACS Magazine, the Restaurant Informer magazine, is a speaker for NACS and restaurant associations, and is a consultant to convenience store chains and QSR chains. Her experience in the restaurant/foodservice segment includes senior operations and management assignments with ARAMark, Pizza Hut, Inc., Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurants, Duff’s Famous Smorgasbord, Friendly Ice Cream, and AFC Enterprises, Inc.,…

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FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Sergeant Michelle O’Rielley Dear Managers, State Crime Prevention Branch would like to advise you and your members on a number of resources available that may assist your industry in improving security and minimising the opportunity for robberies. Local Crime Prevention Sections are available to provide managers and staff with the ‘SAPOL Armed Robbery Prevention Kit’. This kit provides up to date information including strategies to reduce the risk of crime and improve the safety of staff and customers. Also included is a suspect description form, a ‘No Cash’, ‘Keep Cash Low’ and ‘Height’ sticker, a ‘Temporarily Closed’ sign and a ‘CODE A’ Poster. The kit is supported with a Local Crime Prevention member available to give an ‘Armed Robbery Prevention’ presentation that provides invaluable information regarding premises design; cash handling tips; reducing and minimising the risk to both the staff and business; CCTV information; and staff information including personal safety…

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In California, Furious Fight Over Raising Cigarette Tax

ADAM NAGOURNEY June 3, 2012 New York Times LOS ANGELES — California has some of the toughest antismoking laws in the country — it is illegal, in some places, to smoke in your own apartment — and boasts the second-lowest per capita smoking rate in the 50 states. But for all the disdain toward smoking here, it has been 14 years since California raised its cigarette tax, a tribute to the power of the tobacco industry here and the waning of this state’s antitobacco dominance. That may be about to change. An array of health and anticancer groups has rallied behind a ballot initiative to impose a $1-a-pack cigarette tax to finance cancer research. And that has provoked a $47 million storm of advertisements, overwhelmingly financed by the tobacco industry, which is outspending proponents by nearly four to one to defeat the biggest threat it has faced in over a…

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