Growing in the UK and Australia
In the UK, Len Trower’s practice, known as Wakeman Trower & Partners, expanded rapidly, particularly in London during the immediate post-war period where the opportunities for re-building and development were compelling and self-evident.
Wakeman Trower & Partners quicky expanded and the business thrived with other offices opening throughout the UK including Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. WT offices were also established in Guernsey, Jersey, France and Germany.
Len Trower also explored opportunities outside of Europe and travelled to Australia; his meeting with Terry Wolferstan in 1961 marked the beginning of a unique cross‑hemisphere alliance which continues to this day.
In Australia, the reputation of Terry Wolferstan and colleague Denis Crisp soon grew beyond their modest back‑room office in Adelaide. A new Melbourne office followed, with major commissions cementing their presence across the country, including expansion to Tasmania.
It proved to be a pivotal year, with the establishment of the Sydney office and WT’s first steps into the Asian region.
Taking on the world
A milestone airport project in Kuala Lumpur signalled the beginning of WT’s broader engagement across Asia. Operations in Malaysia were soon followed by a Singapore office, and by the 1970s WT had established a strong presence in Hong Kong.
By 1976, our expanding international organisation came together under a single name:
WT Partnership.
WT increasingly took on large prestigious projects around the world. These included the new airport in Hong Kong at Chep Lap Kok, Barcelona’s Hotel Arts – built for the 1992 Olympics and the Sheraton at Pine Cliffs, Portugal.
In 1989 WTP Italia commenced business, operating principally in Milan, Bologna and, latterly, Rome. Work in mainland Spain and the Balearics continued steadily, following our establishment there in 1984. In 1994 we established an office in Stockholm, Sweden to exploit opportunities in Scandinavia and the Baltic.
In Australia, WT opened a Perth office in 1966 to support Western Australia’s developing resources sector, and by the 1980s had established new offices in Cairns, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Newcastle.
In 1992 we commenced operations in Jakarta and our entry into mainland China came in 1996 with the opening of our Shanghai office.
A new millennium and international growth
As the new millennium arrived, a new generation of WT leaders focused on building a resilient, future‑ready global business, expanding our service offering, strengthening our expertise, and extending our geographic reach.
In 2001 we formed a joint venture in New Zealand, now offering a broad range of services nationwide. We entered Vietnam in 2008 and further strengthened our presence in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Our North American journey began in 2010 with the opening of our Mexico City office. In 2015, WT secured a landmark US$1.3 billion public–private partnership for the University of California and subsequently expanded across the United States and Canada.
We established a dedicated team in India in 2015, and our footprint has since grown across Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi and Chennai.
WT’s most recent global expansions include the Middle East and South Africa, with offices opening in Abu Dhabi (2018), Cape Town and Durban (2021), and Riyadh (2024). Our Abu Dhabi office continues to grow, supporting projects locally and as far afield as Rwanda and Georgia.
In 2000 we added FM Consultancy to our service offering in the UK, building on our QS and project management expertise but providing a means of extending the timescale of our client commissions. The aim was to provide the same high quality independent service as we applied to capital projects but to the operational management of new and existing buildings.
This service has now expanded across the WT international offices with resources originally from the UK now providing FM Consultancy from Australia and Asia.
Looking to the future
WT’s future is founded on investment in our people, our services and our systems. Across every region, we remain committed to a client‑first approach, delivering consistent, trusted results with integrity.
We continue to diversify and innovate, extending our services across the full lifecycle of building and infrastructure projects and adopting advanced digital tools and technologies to deliver greater accuracy, insight and efficiency for our clients worldwide.
The current management team in all parts of our privately owned business includes individuals who have been at WT for the whole of the growth and expansion phase from the 1980s/90s onwards. This history of consistent personnel identity and values, notwithstanding the changing times and shape of the construction industry, has been invaluable in making us what we are today.
WT is now one of the larger independent global consultancies and can offer our valued clients from one jurisdiction the same level of professionalism and service when they make a foray into other countries where WT has a presence.
