140 Years of the Red-Hot Go - Mike Schneider

Welcome

Good evening, everyone.

What a room … What a night – and – I might add, what a week!

Distinguished guests, elected officials, members of the Wesfarmers Board, including Chairman Michael Chaney AO, Chairman elect Ken McKenzie, my Wesfarmers and Bunnings colleagues, our amazing suppliers and partners, our community friends, and, of course, our team – past and present … thank you for being here.

Tonight isn’t about numbers, or strategy, or targets.

It’s about us – the people – the many people – and relationships, that, over 140 years, have helped build something genuinely special.

Reflecting on that, the images you’ve seen – and memories you’ve shared, you’re not simply looking at a company.

You’re looking at 140 years of a uniquely Australian story – the Bunnings story – our story – the people who’ve lived it, shaped it – and are writing its next chapter, with passion and determination.

And I want to start with two simple words: thank you.

WHAT WE MEAN BY A RED-HOT GO

There’s a phrase you’ll hear a bit tonight: a red-hot go.

For those not familiar with it, let me explain what it means to us, because it’s much more than a slogan.

It’s our purpose.

To give something a red-hot go is very Australian, it’s very Kiwi – and it’s very us.

It means backing yourself.

Rolling up your sleeves and having a crack … with optimism and determination … without waiting for permission – or perfect conditions.

It’s the spirit of a customer, standing in our aisles on a Saturday morning, certain they can build the deck, paint the room, or fix the fence.

It’s the spirit of a team member – trying out a new idea – or inspiring a customer – in their local store.

It’s the spirit of our local communities who see us as genuine partners, joined together in making the little things around us better – better for today and better for tomorrow.

And it’s the spirit of two brothers – who stepped off a ship in 1886 – with no plan – just happy to work hard … and back themselves.

That’s what a red-hot go means to us.

And it’s why, 140 years on, our purpose is simple: to inspire everyone – our team, customers, suppliers and our communities – to have a red-hot go.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN – 1886

Let me take you back.

To June 1886.

Two brothers – Robert and Arthur Bunning – arrive on the SS Elderslie in Fremantle, Western Australia.

Two migrants, really. No brand. No stores.

They buy a sawmill – and help support Western Australia’s first mining boom.

They were the original “give it a red-hot go” people.

Tradesmen who worked alongside their customers. Who built their reputation, one handshake at a time. Who understood that, in a small community, your word was your brand.

And here’s what strikes me the most.

That combination of hard work, fairness and genuine care didn’t fade as the business grew – it was passed down – through generations of people who understand that culture is the thing that matters most.

Robert and Arthur wouldn’t recognise many of the products on our shelves today. But, if they were with us tonight, and saw how our team treats our customers and suppliers, how we look after one another, how we show up for our communities … they’d recognise the culture.

They’d feel it.

Because the seeds they planted, they’re still growing.

A BIG LOCAL BUSINESS

140 years is a long time to stay relevant.

And you don’t do it by standing still.

It’s funny.

Everyone thinks they know Bunnings – and in many ways they do, but in other ways they don’t, either.

Whilst so many Australians and New Zealanders are shareholders directly or indirectly in our parent company Wesfarmers, almost all are social shareholders in Bunnings, offering thoughts, ideas and feedback – and with plenty of passion too!

Everyone thinks we’re that big warehouse in their local town or suburb – where you grab a snag – while buying paint, plants, or power tools.

And we are.

But we’re more, too.

Because Bunnings has always been a people business.

We were all about people in 1886, when Arthur and Robert bought that sawmill.

We were all about people in the 1950s, when we moved into hardware in the post-war migrant boom.

We were all about people in the 1990s and 2000s when we went national – expanding our DIY credentials – acquiring Alco Handyman in Western Australia, Harry’s and Lloyds in South Australia along with McEwans here in Victoria – and crossing the ditch to New Zealand.

We were all about people when we ramped up online during the COVID lockdowns – or have led the fight when it comes to retail crime.

And we are still about people – the tens of thousands of our incredible teammates, who choose to build amazing careers in our business, proudly pulling on that red shirt and tying on that apron – delivering amazing experiences for our customers, lending a helping hand in their communities – or partnering with so many of you, to make sure that we bring the very best offer to life, every day.

Bunnings has changed and grown, as Australia and New Zealand have changed and grown, and there’s no doubt we’ll keep changing – and evolving.

At the heart of our business is the idea of local people and knowledge, living, working and raising their families in their local communities … and it’s a big part of the secret of our success.

And it’s fair to say that across the last 30 or so years since that first warehouse opened not far from here, in Sunshine, we’ve done our fair share of growing too!

Today, we stretch across the Sunburnt Country – and the Land of the Long White Cloud – more than 55,000 team members, over 550 locations – and increasingly, wherever our customers are … be that online, in home or on the job site.

Staying relevant, and earning the right to be chosen by our customers, remains core to that.

Beyond our warehouses – and small format stores, we’re now home to Beaumont Tiles, Tool Kit Depot, Blackwoods and Workwear Group, along with our Frame and Truss manufacturing sites, with our distribution and fulfilment centres, flowing products from factories to store, and onwards right through to our customers’ front porch.

We’ve expanded our offer and grown core categories, including new markets and channels, ensuring relevance and resilience for our customers – and shareholders – alike.

We’ve launched Bunnings Pacific, an online offer for customers in Fiji.

We’ve backed home electrification through Zelora.

We’ve built a dedicated retail media network in Hammer Media – and a marketplace business offering hundreds of thousands of products and services to complement our core offering.

Across the last decade, one of the most significant transformations I believe we’ve seen has been the development and growth of our digital ecosystem.

Reflecting on the world in which we live today, where agents are increasingly being used to augment shopping experiences – and data has become the key to a whole new frontier of personalisation, our arrival into the omnichannel retail world could not have been better timed.

Maligned a little for being late to the digital party, Bunnings today is a leading player in digital and data capability, including pioneering agentic commerce in the Australian market.

Behind the scenes, our deep data capability, and the adoption of emerging technologies, is powering tangible benefits for our team, suppliers and advertisers alike, improving productivity – and rapidly expanding the ways we can connect, communicate and engage our consumer and commercial customers.

The evolution of our iconic catalogue is a great example.

Once a welcome arrival in your letterbox, our catalogue has made way for personalised engagement across a range of digital and physical platforms – segmented in hundreds of thousands of ways – tailored to our customers’ lifestyles, demographics and preferences.

Importantly, these digital capabilities, coupled with our incredible store network, help ensure we stay relevant – ready to compete and grow – and to meet the needs of our customers for today and tomorrow.

And that’s why we will never lose sight of the milestones that matter.

Over the past decade we’ve helped raise over half a billion dollars – delivered in conjunction with over 720,000 community activities.

We now power every one of our sites with 100 per cent renewable electricity – a real step towards our 2030 net zero commitments – while remaining Australia’s most trusted and iconic brand.

Of course, we’ve had plenty of lessons in humility along the way. Plenty of setbacks, challenges and mistakes.

We’re human, and we know we’re not perfect – we continue to learn, adapt and improve.

Humility is core to our mindset … and our values.

We understand hubris is our enemy, and fight hard against that at every turn.

Because that restlessness, that willingness to change before we’re forced to, is exactly what has kept us relevant for 140 years.

And the best part?

When Bunnings does well, Australia and New Zealand do well too – through the jobs we create, the tradies we support, the suppliers we back, and the communities we’re a part of.

Of course, none of it happens without the people in this room.

CELEBRATING SUPPLIERS AND PARTNERS

Whilst we all play our part in the Bunnings story, at the core of our offer – and our ability to grow and evolve – are our suppliers and partners.

Put simply, there is no Bunnings without you.

We can build the best stores, train the best team, and dream up the smartest ways to serve customers, but none of it means anything without the products on our shelves, and the people who design and manufacture them.

It’s the same for the considered, trusted and expert advice our wider partners offer us, shared with the same passion and dedication as our amazing team in red.

Every tin of paint, every tool, every plant, every length of timber, every bag of potting mix – behind each one is a business, and behind that business, people, who back themselves, the same way Robert and Arthur did in 1886.

There’s a line in the Ballad of Bunnings – which is printed on the gift you’ll receive as you leave tonight – that says it better than I can:

“A solid sense of loyalty undoubtedly inspires, especially in treasuring the value of suppliers.”

That’s exactly right.

Over 140 years, we’ve worked with thousands of suppliers and partners.

Some have been with us for decades – grown as we’ve grown, backed us by investing in our shared ambitions, meeting deadlines, and bringing us ideas that we’d have never found on our own.

Our suppliers and partners are as diverse as our business – from large multinationals to mum-and-dad businesses, and from all corners of the globe.

Working with each of you is both a pleasure, and a privilege – one I don’t take for granted … and has been a significant part of what I have loved so much throughout the two decades of my Bunnings journey.

And, I’ll be honest with you: partnerships that last, aren’t always easy.

We know we ask a lot.

We move fast – we change.

We push for the lowest prices – because every day, we work so hard to earn the trust of our customers by delivering the value that lets them invest in their most important asset: the place where they live … the place they call home.

But the best relationships aren’t the ones that avoid the hard conversations.

They’re the ones built on the trust to have them, and the respect to come out the other side, even stronger.

That’s what an enduring partnership really looks like.

So, to our suppliers and partners – the long-standing – and the brand new – thank you.

Thank you for your trust, your patience, your innovation, and your faith in what we can build, together.

You haven’t just supplied Bunnings.

You’ve helped shape it, and our industry … and we would not be standing here, 140 years on, without you.

25 YEARS IN NEW ZEALAND

And while we celebrate 140 years, there’s another milestone very close to our hearts.

This year, we also celebrate 25 years of Bunnings in New Zealand.

It began in 2001, when we entered the market through the Wesfarmers acquisition of Howard Smith, which gave Bunnings the opportunity to acquire BBC, Hardwarehouse and Benchmark Building Suppliers.

A quarter of a century on, Bunnings is woven into the fabric of Kiwi communities – the same values, the same care, the same red-hot go … just with slightly better rugby and netball teams!

To our entire New Zealand team, and to everyone here in Australia who supports our Kiwi team every day – congratulations.

BUILDING A BUSINESS THAT CAN ENDURE

There is something quite remarkable about a business that lasts. It’s an achievement worth celebrating.

In a world that values the new, the fast, the disruptive – the overnight success – we don’t always pause to celebrate endurance.

But we should.

Staying relevant over the long term is incredibly hard to do, especially in retail.

Think about what it takes.

To reach 140 years in 2026, a business needs to have survived world wars, a great depression, recessions, regional conflicts, pandemics, floods, earthquakes, droughts and financial crises.

It has to weather every shift in technology, change in laws and regulation … every change in what customers want … every new competitor certain that they’ll do it better.

It has to reinvent itself, over and over – and over and over – without ever losing the thread of who it is.

Most don’t make it.

In this country, roughly one business in seven closes its doors every single year. To last a century – let alone 140 years – is to belong to a rare and precious few.

Only a handful of Australian business names go back as far as we do.

But longevity is about so much more than survival.

A business that stands the test of time becomes something bigger than itself.

It becomes part of the fabric of a nation.

It’s the job that gave someone a start – put someone through their apprenticeship or degree.

The supplier whose family grew alongside ours.

The store team that showed up when the floods or fires came.

The name a grandparent trusted, and a grandchild trusts still.

These businesses don’t just serve communities: over time they become them.

And that’s why they’re worth celebrating.

Not because they’re old, but because of what age represents – trust, earned – and re-earned across generations.

Relationships that outlast any one of us. Thousands and thousands of people, over 140 years, who put down roots and grew with the business, who cared enough to hand something on in better shape than they found it.

Whether it’s a new team member who has just completed their induction, or the hundreds of team members who continue to work hard, day in and day out, with decades of service under their belts, we are so privileged to be able to say “I am – or I have been – a Bunnings team member”.

As our team heads to 60,000 in number, we deeply understand the power that a job creates, the lives it supports, and the opportunities it affords.

It’s the same for the some 300,000 or so people who’ve worked with us since 1886, who’ve built lives and careers as rich and diverse as our offer continues to be.

I am immensely grateful to have worked alongside so many incredible and talented people – something I never take for granted.

An enduring business is like a relay – a baton passed from hand to hand, decade after decade, each generation running their leg, with the same simple ambition: to leave it stronger for the ones who come next.

So tonight, we don’t just celebrate 140 years of Bunnings.

We celebrate what enduring institutions give a country … continuity, confidence, and proof that if you back yourself, look after your people, and give it a red-hot go, you can build something that outlasts you.

I look forward to joining you back on stage later this evening to announce two new initiatives and share some thoughts on the next chapter of Bunnings.