"The trick in hiring on the Central Coast is to attract on lifestyle (stop travelling down the F3) and retain on opportunity and growth. I've found often when people join a company on the Central Coast after having worked in Sydney, they are almost in a semi-retirement mode and that takes a little while to beat out of them. Cost on average is around 25 percent less than Sydney although long-time employees are on equivalent salaries and conditions."

In addition to recruiting, networking is an issue in the regional areas.

Thomas said the Central Coast has not developed as a regional business centre and "certainly not" as a regional technical centre.

"I look at areas like North Ryde (20km north-west of Sydney) and think 'why hasn't that happened here' -- it's cheaper, there's a great lifestyle and it's not too far from the city. As a result, the ability to network with local business professionals is limited. There is a general feel that working on the Central Coast means you're out of touch with the industry."

Perception can also be a problem as "at times being out of Sydney or a major capital city sends a perception to the larger customer that we are not a suitable player for the market".