EOFY 2025/26: More Than Just Another Busy Year

As another financial year comes to a close, it’s easy to focus purely on the numbers. The projects completed, the tonnes of scaffold installed, the kilometres travelled and the equipment sent out to sites across Sydney. While those figures are certainly worth celebrating, the 2025/26 financial year was about much more than statistics. It was a year that reinforced how much the construction industry continues to evolve and how important it is for businesses like Stronghold Hire to evolve with it. From increasingly complex engineered solutions through to the continued growth of our specialist edge protection and shrink wrap services, this year challenged us to think differently, invest heavily and continue raising the bar for our clients.

A Changing Industry

One of the biggest shifts we noticed throughout the year was the growing demand for engineered temporary works.

Projects that may once have been considered straightforward now require greater levels of planning, design and compliance. Builders, developers and principal contractors are demanding more detailed solutions, and rightly so. Safety expectations continue to increase, site constraints are becoming more challenging and clients are seeking contractors who can provide complete solutions rather than simply supplying equipment. This trend has been particularly noticeable across scaffold, edge protection and access systems, where engineered designs are now becoming a regular requirement rather than the exception.

2025/2026 By The Numbers

Over the course of the financial year, Stronghold Hire successfully completed 583 projects throughout Sydney and surrounding regions. At any given time, we consistently had more than 80 active projects on hire, ranging from residential renovations and roofing works through to commercial access solutions, façade projects, weather protection systems and specialist temporary works. Our most utilised services throughout the year were:

• Kwikstage scaffold and aluminium access solutions – 55%
• Edge protection systems – 28%
• Shrink wrap encapsulation and weather containment – 14%
• Rubbish chute systems – 3%

The continued growth of our edge protection division was particularly encouraging. Increased awareness of working-at-heights obligations, combined with growing activity in the solar installation sector, has seen demand continue to rise across both residential and commercial projects. Shrink wrap containment also experienced significant growth, particularly during periods of wet weather where builders needed reliable weather protection to maintain construction programs.

Investing for the Future

One lesson we learnt this year was that demand can arrive faster than expected. To ensure we could continue supporting our clients, we made several significant investments across the business. We expanded our fleet with four additional vehicles, improving our ability to quote, supervise and service projects across Sydney. We increased our scaffold inventory by a further 150 tonnes of steel scaffold, helping strengthen our capacity and reduce the likelihood of supply constraints during peak periods.

Within our Edge Protection Hire division, we continued developing and expanding our bracket range. We now operate with more than ten different bracket systems, allowing us to provide safer and more efficient solutions across a broader range of roof designs and construction methods.

We also increased staffing within our yard operations and continued training additional personnel in shrink wrap installation. Every shrink wrap project presents its own unique challenges, and expanding our in-house capability remains an important focus as this service continues to grow.

A Milestone Year for Edge Protection Hire

Perhaps one of the most significant developments this year was the continued growth of Edge Protection Hire as a specialist division. The launch of the dedicated Edge Protection Hire website has significantly improved visibility within the market and helped establish the business as a recognised specialist provider rather than simply another service offered by Stronghold Hire.

The division also moved into its own dedicated premises, providing greater operational flexibility and creating a solid foundation for future growth. What started as a complementary service has evolved into a major part of the business and an increasingly important solution for builders, roofers, solar installers and contractors working at height.

The Challenge of Keeping Up

While growth is always positive, it brings its own challenges. For the first time in many years, we found ourselves needing to cross-hire equipment from industry partners to meet client demand.

Although not our preferred approach, maintaining service levels for our clients will always remain our priority. The experience reinforced the importance of continuing to invest in equipment, stock levels and infrastructure to ensure we can keep pace with future growth. In many ways, this challenge was also a positive indicator of the confidence our clients continue to place in us.

Looking Forward to 2026/27

The coming year will be focused on strengthening capacity, improving efficiency and continuing to broaden our service offering. Key priorities include:

• Further increasing scaffold and equipment stock levels
• Expanding yard and operational teams
• Reducing lead times from enquiry through to installation
• Continuing the growth of Edge Protection Hire
• Investing in additional training, vehicles and equipment
• Exploring alternative scaffold systems and access solutions to better support evolving client requirements

As construction methods continue to change, we remain committed to adapting alongside them.

Thank You

None of this growth would be possible without the support of our clients, suppliers, site teams and employees. Every project completed this year represents a relationship built on trust, communication and teamwork. Whether you’ve engaged us for a single aluminium tower hire or partnered with us across multiple large-scale projects, we genuinely appreciate the opportunity to work alongside you.

Thank you for being part of another successful year. We look forward to helping keep Sydney building, renovating and progressing throughout 2026/27 and beyond.