New boss of Gold Coast trading exchange network Bartercard Tony Wiese plans to rebuild the company following turmoil

TONY Wiese is looking to rebuild the flagging fortunes of trading exchange network Bartercard following savage cuts from when it was part of a listed company.

TONY Wiese is looking to rebuild the flagging fortunes of trading exchange network Bartercard following savage cuts from when it was part of a listed company.

Last month Mr Wiese bought the shares in Southport-based Bartercard’s Australian and New Zealand entities from IncentiaPay for $5 million. IncentiaPay is the successor to BPS Technology, which was the company Mr Wiese helped to float as chief finance officer in 2014.

Last year a minority shareholder group of hedge funds, advised by Moelis, attempted a boardroom coup, which led to founding CEO Trevor Dietz resigning in December.

The shareholders claimed management had not moved quickly enough to cut staff and costs in the wake of the acquisition of restaurant and activity guide Entertainment Publications.

Former BPS Technology CEO Trevor Dietz is flanked by new Bartercard boss Tony Wiese (right) and former BPS Technology chairman Murray d’Almeida (left). Picture: Mike Batterham

Soon after Mr Wiese resigned from the board in February, the headcount at the Southport Bartercard headquarters was slashed by a fifth.

This week Mr Wiese, freshly back from a trip to the US to meet with staff from World Vision and TrustBridge Global, said he was looking to rebuild the salesforce by hiring up to 10 new staff.

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He said staff had been ­battered and bruised from the IncentiaPay experience, but had soldiered on and ensured clients were serviced to a high standard.

“I understood the need for cuts but I would have done things differently,” he said.

“I’m are very grateful to those who have seen it through and continued to service our members.”

The board of BPS Technology prior to the listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2014. (Rear) Tony Wiese, chief financial officer, Brian Hall, managing director. (Front L-R) Tony Lally, non-executive director, Trevor Dietz, chief executive officer, Murray d'Almeida, chairman and Andrew Pipolo, non-executive director.

Mr Wiese said the new ­vision for Bartercard was to create “the most valuable membership for SMEs” in the world.

“SMEs have many options these days to increase their business and add value,” he said.

“We want to be their best option for them having a sense of belonging to a network and using their trade dollars more effectively, giving them more choice to earn and increase their trade dollars.”

He said the focus was on ­increasing membership numbers, which are currently 10,000 in Australia and 5000 in New Zealand.

Tony Wiese has a long association with Bartercard. Picture Mike Batterham

“We are looking at rebuilding our salesforce, which has been depleted over the past year,” he said.

“We are also really looking at our fee structure to make it more feasible.”

He said that included introducing new options such as a lifetime membership.

Currently, all members pay $99 per month as part of their membership.