On the 8th – 10th of October our Annual TASCO Conference was held at the Amora Riverwalk Hotel in Richmond.
Melbourne Newport Terminal
The conference began with TASCO’s Ampol Business Manager, Peter Moran taking a group on a tour of the Ampol Newport Terminal. An incredible experience for our staff to get first hand knowledge of the operational aspect of fuel transport and handling, prior to drivers collecting.
At the end of the tour, staff were then shown the Newport operations hub for Ron Finemore Transport. Scott Cooper from Ron Finemore Transport introduced staff to Cameron Kempson, Operations Planner for Ron Finemore Transport Bulk Liquids Division. Cameron’s responsibility is to effectively and efficiently plan and execute deliveries to fuel customers, utilising metro and regionally based fleet and drivers. He manages, monitors and maintains fuel
leaves as per customers requirements, TASCO Petroleum included. Staff were amazed at Cameron’s skill and also the technology and knowledge he has at hand.
LEGO MASTERS
On conclusion of the Newport Terminal tour, all staff assembled in the conference room at the Amora Riverwalk for a team session, TASCO’s Lego Masters.
TASCO Lego Masters was a team building activity that challenged small groups in design thinking, problem solving, iterative learning, effective planning and rapid deployment of ideas. It is was enjoyable, engaging and specifically designed to enhance our staff connections and interactions with one another. A great afternoon with some fantastic creations by staff and the winners crowned.
Day one.
The conference commenced with presentations from external guest speakers and also internal staff presentations.
Speaking to the group about all things finance was Joel George & Praveen Gounder from Commonwealth Bank, Danielle Jones from William Buck presented on superannuation and Dr Tim Driscoll from the Royal Flying Doctor Services spoke to the group about supportive conversations within the workplace.
After morning tea the group session panel commenced with internal speakers Steve Rose TASCO Carriers Manager and Jason Wells TASCO Lubricants & Marketing Manager joined by external guest speakers Kevin Rodda from Ron Finemore Transport and Peter Moran from Ampol to discuss all things wholesale, TASCO business and industry
related. From the group session panel, internal presentations commence with internal training tips from Wayne Hatcher on our Octane accounting system which was then followed by a presentation from guest speaker Elle Lancaster from our Acacia Employee Assistance Program, addressing the group about the services all TASCO staff have access to as members of Acacia EAP.
After lunch the group then settled in for a presentation on all things retail with our Retail Director Mark Hughes and Retail Manager Pete Jessup. To compliment the retail focus, Kosta Soldatos from New Sunrise Group presented afterwards, going through each TASCO operated site and giving further information about what New Sunrise Group is currently working on. To conclude the day, Rob Watson and Donella Corbett from Ampol presented. Rob gave an update of Ampols projects they have been working on and insights on industry related topics. Donella then presented on a hot topic for many businesses, customer service.
That evening, staff and external guests and business partners were invited to TASCO’s annual Gala Evening that is held at a surprise location each year…
Gala Evening
Welcome to Crown!
At approx 6.00pm guests arrived at one of Melbournes finest venues for our Gala Evening with the event being held in the incredible Horizon room at Crown Towers. Overlooking the city of Melbourne, Horizon provided an amazing backdrop to the night that followed, with great company, site awards with thanks to Ampol combined with our TASCO staff excellence awards were presented.
Presentations
During the evening we farewelled Tony Prosser and thanked him for his service to TASCO Petroleum as he now enjoys retirement. There was many fond memories and words of appreciation, while a few laughs were also shared when reminiscing on Tony’s time with TASCO Petroleum since the acquisition of Barrett Petroleum in 2013.
Next up for presentations was our annual Retail Site of the Year and our Depot Site of the Year.
We would like to congratulate the following:
Retail site of the Year: St Arnaud
Depot of the Year First Place: Benalla
Depot of the Year Second Place: Mildura
Depot of the Year Third Place: Bunnaloo
Staff Awards
After the site awards it was then time for our Staff Excellence awards.
The staff excellence awards being:
• Service Excellence
• Business Innovation
• Community Engagement
• HSSE Champion
We encouraged all staff to get involved and make nominations via a nomination form that was sent out. Nominations were unlimited and all awards could be applied to both retail and wholesale aspects of our business, giving all staff within our network the opportunity to be
recognised.
We would like to congratulate the following winners:
• HSSE Champion: Benji Seers, Benalla Depot
• Business Innovation: Ronan Ban & Emma Hamence,
Mildura
• Service Excellence: Drew May, Albury
• Community Engagement: John Carra, Mildura
Once all formalities were complete, guests enjoyed their final course while taking in the incredible atmosphere and city
views. Thank you to all who attended our Gala Evening. We look forward to 2025!