Honouring our past. Protecting the future. A decade of local management and growth at Wormald
After celebrating Wormald’s 135-year anniversary two years ago, I’ve spent time reflecting on both our long history and another milestone we are marking in 2026: 10 years since Wormald returned to local Australian management. Together, these milestones speak to the strength, resilience, and continuity of the business, and more importantly, position us to look forward with confidence.
Marking a decade of Aussie management and business growth is particularly significant for me. Having been part of Wormald for more than 30 years, I’ve seen firsthand that continual change is inevitable and necessary to ensure we evolve and adapt to the needs of our customers and our industry.
Since commencing operations in 1889, Wormald has experienced periods of private, public and multinational ownership, with many changes in focus, structure and performance over such a long history. Over the decades, the business has faced some extremely challenging periods, most often driven by shifts in ownership, management, and strategy rather than market conditions alone.
When Wormald returned to private, local management in 2016, the business entered a period of stability, focus and consolidation. Over the past decade, this has enabled us to strengthen our fundamentals and consistently improve year on year. I firmly believe Wormald is now in the best position it has been in for many years, particularly as reflected in customer growth and the quality of feedback we continue to receive.
As we look ahead to future milestones, whether that’s 140 or 150 years, our focus is firmly on the future. We will continue to consolidate our position as the leading quality fire protection and high-end security provider in Australia, while staying true to our core purpose of protecting lives and property.
Key initiatives for 2026
With the year well underway, I’m looking forward to the continued development of our custom Wormald TechConnect mobile field data system. We are now incorporating ongoing feedback from technicians across the country and routinely introducing new versions with highly requested features. This continues to improve efficiency in the field, enhance customer service, and deliver richer information through our customer portal and reporting.
Maintaining a collaborative approach with our customers remains critical, with many viewing Wormald as a partner rather than simply a contractor or supplier. This partnership-led mindset remains one of our key points of difference in the market.
Our team continues to work on solutions that address new and emerging fire risks, including those associated with dangerous goods transportation and lithium-ion batteries, especially across the waste and energy sectors. Industrial and special risks remain a traditional strength for Wormald, and we are seeing strong opportunities to apply this expertise as risk profiles evolve.
AI applications are also an area of focus, with several inward and outward facing initiatives under consideration. We have a substantial resource centre of technical and product application data and are looking at the potential of making this AI accessible to customers and other stakeholders to reinforce our position as subject matter experts and trusted consultants.
I’m also excited with the continued expansion of our high-end Wormald Security business, our core fire protection operation across Australia, and the impressive work underway in Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Industry challenges driving change in the industry
I know customers are under immense pressure to obtain value for money, particularly following sustained periods of inflation. At the same time the costs to deliver quality service have skyrocketed, so balancing what is specialised, technical service delivery with these cost pressures is a constant challenge. In a safety and compliance environment, the risk of cutting corners can be catastrophic, and fire risk management cannot be treated as a commodity service.
Technological change also presents challenges. Expectations around innovation are high, while regulatory frameworks and product standards often move slowly. Navigating this requires experience, technical depth and strong industry knowledge.
The right support in a fast-moving world
In my view, Wormald continues to stand apart through its commitment to highly skilled and qualified people, strong engineering capability, and the ability to deliver solutions across a wide range of fire and security risks. As a dedicated fire and security business, we have developed unparalleled depth and experience.
In practical terms, this means we can solve complex problems, advocate on behalf of our customers with regulators and stakeholders and deliver consistent outcomes across the country. As Australia’s largest independent fire and security business, and after more than 135-years of continuous operation and a decade of local management, we remain focused on protecting lives and property, now and into the future.
I look forward to connecting with more of you throughout 2026.
Andrew Lee
Chief Executive Officer, Wormald
