A sepia-toned historical image of two men with shovels standing by an old Brambles truck unloading materials

Our History

Established since 1875, today Brambles is a global business with more than 12,000 employees.
View our full history below.

start
1858

Brambles takes its name from
Walter Bramble, who arrived in Sydney, Australia with his English parents in 1858 when he was less than one year old

1875

At the age of 18, Walter established a butchering business. He was a "cut up and deliver" butcher, meaning he transported the meat to customers by boat or horse and cart. Two years later, he had saved enough to move his business to the rapidly growing port town of Newcastle. Walter gradually expanded the transport part of his business

1877
An old black and white portrait photo of Walter Bramble

Walter Bramble establishes a butchery business in Newcastle, Australia – gradually expanding its transport and logistics operations

1925
A historic image of a horse and carriage featured in a newspaper article surrounded by the words 'W. E. Bramble & Sons' and 'Our motto - keep moving'

W E Bramble & Sons Limited forms, delivering transport and logistics services, as well as automotive engineering and real estate investment

1946

Post World War II, the Australian Government takes ownership of a collection of pallets and other transportation assets left in Australia by the US Army and, in 1946, introduces the name Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool (CHEP).

1954
A black and white image of an old document

W E Bramble & Sons becomes a publicly-listed company and establishes a subsidiary operation at Port Kembla, Australia, providing transport and industrial services for BHP

1958
A black and white image of an old newpaper article

Brambles enters the pooling solutions business, buying CHEP from the Australian Government. Brambles changes its name to Brambles Industries Limited and moves its head office from Newcastle to Sydney

1970
A black and white photograph of a digger claw collecting waste

Brambles enters the waste disposal sector

1972

Brambles reconfigures its business into principal divisions of industrial services, transport, materials handling and chemical/mechanical engineering

1974

Brambles forms CHEP UK as an 80:20 joint venture with Guest Keen & Nettlefold (GKN)

1978
A black and white image of an illustrative, instructional document

CHEP enters continental Europe, initially in the Benelux region and France

1979
A photograph of a Cleanway employee in fluorescent workwear overlooking a factory

Brambles renames its waste disposal business Cleanaway

1984

Brambles launches CHEP Germany

1990

Having established itself in Asia-Pacific, Europe, South Africa and Canada, Brambles launches CHEP USA

1991

Brambles makes its first overseas acquisition in records management, buying the Vault Company in Atlanta, USA

1994

Brambles divests several divisions including Grace Removals and the Sydney towage business J P Fenwick

1999
A long shot of a worker in front of shelves of stock in a warehouse

Recall launches as the global records management business of Brambles

2001
Image logo of the 'Listed on Australian Stock Exchange'

Brambles merges with the support services arm of GKN and forms a dual-listed companies structure on the Australian and London stock exchanges, as Brambles Industries Limited and Brambles Industries plc respectively

2005
Side view image on a blue CHEP pallet with a stock load of brown boxes

Brambles announces it will streamline the group and focus on CHEP and Recall by divesting Cleanaway, Brambles Industrial Services and several other businesses

2006
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Brambles unifies its dual-listed companies structure. Brambles Limited becomes the holding company for CHEP and Recall, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange only

2010
A photograph of an aeroplane being loading with freight

Brambles enters the aerospace container pooling segment with the acquisition of Unitpool

2011
A photograph of a stack of 'Container and Pooling Solutions' boxes in front of the company logo

Brambles acquires Container and Pooling Solutions (CAPS), a USA-based provider of intermediate bulk containers

2011
A black Reusable Produce Crate full of a dozen cartons of strawberries

Brambles acquires IFCO Systems, the world's largest RPC business, combining it with CHEP's RPC operations, and announces a new segmental reporting structure based on the three Pooling Solutions categories of Pallets, RPCs and Containers, and Recall

2011

Brambles acquires aerospace maintenance and repair organisations JMI Aerospace and Driessen Services and formally launches CHEP Aerospace Solutions as an equipment pooling and repair service dedicated to servicing the pooling and maintenance requirements of the aviation industry

2011
An image of the Paramount Pallet logo

Brambles expands its Canadian pallet management and pooling operations through the acquisition of Paramount Pallet

2013
An image of 5 Pallecon containers on white background

Brambles acquires Pallecon, a leading provider of intermediate bulk container solutions in Europe and Asia-Pacific

2013
An image of the Recall logo

Brambles demerges its Recall information management business, which becomes owned by Recall Holdings Limited, a separate company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and independent of the Brambles Group

2014
An image of the Transpac logo

Brambles acquires Transpac, a German-based provider of pooled intermediate bulk container services

2014
An image of the Ferguson Group logo

Brambles expands its specialist containers business through the acquisition of Ferguson Group, a leading provider of container solutions to the offshore oil and gas sector

2015
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Brambles enters Chilean reusable plastic crate segment through acquisition of Rentapack

2015
An image of the Kegstar logo

Brambles acquires Kegstar, a specialist stainless steel keg pooling business primarily serving beer and cider markets.

2016
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Brambles establishes BXB Digital to expand its capabilities in data analytics and develop innovative digital supply-chain solutions for its customers and the supply chains of the future.

2016
An image of the Hoover Gerguson logo

Brambles combines its Oil & Gas container solutions businesses - Ferguson Group and CHEP Catalyst & Chemical Containers - with Hoover Container Solutions to create the independent joint venture company, Hoover Ferguson Group.

2016

Brambles divests LeanLogistics.

2016

Brambles divests its Aerospace Solutions business.

2017
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Dow Jones Sustainability World Index ranks Brambles as top performer in the Commercial Services and Supplies Industry.

2018

Brambles divests its North American recycled whitewood pallets activities.

2018

Brambles divests its interest in the Hoover Ferguson Joint Venture.

2019 
IFCO logo

Brambles completes the sale of its IFCO reusable plastic containers (RPC) business.

2020
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Brambles has received the highest score in the Dow Jones Barron’s sustainability ranking, rated as the most sustainable company globally.

2021
An image of the Kegstar logo

Brambles completes the Kegstar merger with MicroStar.

2022
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Brambles ranked #1 for industry category in Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

2023
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Brambles ranked world’s third most sustainable company by Corporate Knights’ Global 100 list.

2023

Brambles merges CHEP China with Loscam China.

2024
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Brambles ranked 2nd most sustainable company in the world by Corporate Knights’ Global 100 list.

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