Brambles

The Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool (CHEP) evolved from the Allied Materials Handling Standing Committee (AMHSC), an organisation developed by the Australian government to provide efficient handling of defence supplies during World War II. When the war ended in 1945, the Americans returned home, leaving behind a wealth of materials-handling equipment at their military bases in the South Pacific. With this additional, sophisticated asset base and established infrastructure, the Commonwealth Government continued to endorse the organisation after the war to support the national economy. Brambles is an Australian based 'Global provider of support services' according to their web site. Operating in over 45 countries over 6 continents they employ 12,000 people and were valued at $50 billion American dollars at the end of 2006. Brambles businesses are The Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool (CHEP) and CHEP partners with customers to develop pooling solutions that ensure reduced product damage, offer enhanced delivery efficiencies, eliminate waste and cut supply chain costs, adding exceptional value for its customers. With more than 300,000 customers around the globe, including Procter & Gamble, SYSCO, Carrefour, Kellogg's, Woolworths, Kraft, Nestle, Lion Nathan, The Home Depot, Tesco, Unilever, Hewlett Packard, Ford and GM, CHEP is known for Handling The World's Most Important Products. Everyday

In 1949, the Government decided to privatise the industry and mandated the sale of the Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool organisation. Brambles, a company created in 1875 by Walter Edwin Bramble and well experienced in the materials handling industry, became interested in purchasing the Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool and created a consortium with three other companies to bid under the Brambles umbrella. Brambles acquired CHEP on 24 April 1958. After a Government-established time limit to maintain the pool's original name, Brambles obtained permission to register the pooling company by the abbreviation CHEP Pty Ltd.

The acquisition of CHEP provided Brambles with increased ability to meet the rapidly growing demands of the materials handling industry. CHEP worked hard to keep pace with the increasing demand for its services and to find sufficient space to house the growing numbers of equipment and employees. Within a few years, CHEP operated the largest pool of pallets and containers in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest hiring fleet of forklift trucks in Australia.

Brambles developed CHEP in Australia as a wholly-owned business before expanding into New Zealand in 1974. As CHEP grew, Brambles sought to expand the business into new markets geographically. Given Brambles lack of European presence at the time and the need for additional capital to establish new pallet pools, management introduced the CHEP pallet-pooling concept into the UK in 1975 through a joint venture with GKN.

Encouraged by the success of the UK business, Brambles and GKN decided to develop their pallet-pooling joint venture further.