Entrepreneur’s vision keeping Great Southern towns vibrant

In the space of just over a decade, Indian immigrant Parminder Singh has gone from washing dishes in a Mandurah kebab shop to reviving businesses in small Great Southern towns. Mr Singh, a Shire of Kojonup councillor, has made a name for himself in the region for bringing businesses back from the brink. Using money he saved up from a two-year stint as a blast-crew worker on WA’s mines, Mr Singh started his Great Southern business buy-up when he acquired Kojonup’s 124 Deli and Restaurant in 2016. At that stage, the store had been vacant for a year. If not for a twist of fate, the father of three would have never made his next move. Getting the sack after five years of working with the City of Melville in Perth in 2017, Mr Singh decided to expand his portfolio. Up until then he had been balancing time working for the local government authority, managing his Kojonup shop and looking after his young family. He managed to convince a friend from Sydney to cast his eyes to regional WA for his next investment. Together the pair took a chance on Narrogin’s Cornwall Hotel. An initial price tag of $325,000 quickly turned into a $1 million bill after undertaking a makeover of the landmark pub. Since then his portfolio has expanded to include Narrogin’s All Day Cafe, and co-op stores in Tambellup and Nyabing. He said the Shire of Kent had sold him the Nyabing General Store building for $1 while in both towns, local farmers had approached him to buy the shops. Mr Singh reopened both stores last year. “I want these to be alive and have people able to buy locally,” he said. Last Sunday Mr Singh reopened another property in his portfolio — the Cranbrook Supermarket and Newsagency. Using a $100,000 investment from a friend in India, Mr Singh said he wanted to recreate history with the Cranbrook store. “In 1908 Sundar Singh, he built this shop, he was from my home town of Punjab,” he said. “He died in 1943 and after 77 years another Singh is going to own the same store.” Mr Singh has described regional WA as a “land of opportunity” and is encouraging other immigrants to Australia to take their chances at prosperity in the bush.