Don’t worry about the economic gloom, we’ve had a ray of winter sunshine this week.

Don’t worry about the economic gloom, we’ve had a ray of winter sunshine this week. The sharemarket’s up, the economy seems to be stabilising and Cadel Evans is on target to win the Tour de France. Here’s how we saw the winners and losers from the week.

Winners:

Gloria Jeans

Wake up and smell the coffee – in Qatar. Coffee franchisor Gloria Jean’s Coffee has opened its first stores in Moscow and Qatar as part of its expansion into the lucrative Middle East and Eastern European markets. Gloria Jean’s now has 32 master franchise agreements in 31 countries and 899 stores worldwide.

SMEs in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania

We all hate payroll tax and we know you do too, so it was good to hear that SMEs in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania have a chance to save some cash. Deloitte tax partner Frank Klasic says companies that are part of a group of commonly controlled entities may be able to apply to de-group and cut their payroll tax bill.

Australian workers

Forget the downturn – apparently we are feeling pretty good about our work situations. A new global survey has found Australian workers are 10% more satisfied and engaged with their jobs than their global peers, with 37% saying they have no plans to leave their current job, compared with 33% globally. We even like the boss: 56% of employees said that their senior management tried to be visible and accessible to staff compared to just 44% of their peers globally.

Roger and Leslie Gillespie

Bakers Delight founders Roger and Lesley Gillespie were inducted into Swinburne University of Technology’s Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship (AGSE) Hall of Fame on Thursday evening. Also inducted were Leon Serry, founder and former managing director of biotechnology company Circadian Technologies, Lyn Swinburne, founder and chief executive of Breast Cancer Network Australia, and Rob Adams, the director of design and culture at the City of Melbourne.

Losers:

James Packer

It’s been a rough year for Kerry’s boy. This week, James Packer’s Crown gambling empire dumped plans to join a consortium building a casino in the Philippines, just weeks after dumping plans for a Las Vegas casino. Investors aren’t impressed; the 45% slump in Crown’s stock has wiped $1.7 billion off Packer’s stake, which has dropped in value from $3.9 billion to $2.2 billion.

Former 2Clix customers

This week we brought you the sorry tale of 80 clients of collapsed accounting software company 2Clix, who are struggling to get access to their own company’s financial data. The lesson? Examine your contract very carefully and make sure you never lose control of your data.

Seal-A-Fridge

Fridge repair franchisor Seal-A-Fridge and its director Nigel Rooney are facing legal action after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged the company engaged in unconscionable conduct towards its franchisees. The corporate watchdog alleges the company unilaterally increased the fees associated with the national Seal-A-Fridge telephone number contrary to franchise agreements and then disconnected franchisees from the telephone number to force franchisees to agree to the increased fees. This case will be watched very, very closely by all in the franchising sector.

Smart phone users

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel puts a dampener on iPhone celebrations this week by issuing a warning to consumers to be aware of excessive usage charges if they exceed their monthly data limit. We’re tipping this is going to be a HUGE problem in the coming months.