Our foundations

With a shovel, a wheelbarrow, and a ute, our founder and Managing Director, Joe Bartolo, initiated the entrepreneurial journey by starting a landscaping business in the residential sector.

Evolving from landscaping to concrete paving and structural concrete work for private clients and large residential builders, we strived for excellence from the beginning.

The business transitioned towards larger structural concrete projects in the building and construction sector, engineering advanced solutions that enabled bold ideas to take shape. 

Rapid growth calls for expansion. We founded Civilex (now Symal), our leading self-performing infrastructure business that has delivered some of Australia's biggest civil projects.

We've always understood the power of collaboration. To bolster our strong trajectory of growth, we welcomed our Directors Ray Dando and Andrew Fairbairn as shareholders.

To propel our ambitious goals forward with good governance, we established an Advisory Board, laying a solid foundation for strategic advice to ensure our future success. 

Recognising an exciting opportunity to become one of Australia's leading plant and equipment suppliers, we acquired Grampians Excavations to enhance our fleet management and bulk earthworks capability.

Our group has always been focused on creating a more inclusive and meaningful future for construction. Together with Hayden Heta, a proud Aboriginal man of the Wiradjuri Nation, we launched Wamarra.

The official unification of our construction companies under the Symal Group aligned decades of experience, diverse skillsets and geographic advantages. Together, we bring ambitious visions to life.

We acquired Bridge and Civil, enhancing our reach in NSW and complex bridgeworks capabilities. Together, we bring decades of focused expertise to deliver critical infrastructure to communities. 

We launched Symal Contractors to provide dynamic construction solutions in the greater Victoria region. Returning to our roots, our broad team of specialists mobilise swiftly for unique community projects. 

Recognising the need to protect our finite resources, Sycle was established to create a more circular industry. We’re remanufacturing construction waste to create sustainable solutions. 

We consolidated our expansive fleet and engineering expertise by merging Grampians Excavations and Symal Solutions. With a united footprint across Australia, we rapidly respond to emerging project needs.

On Thursday, 21 November, the Symal Group took a significant step in our company’s journey, debuting on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker SYL.

Searo is our next step in diversification, delivering smart, high-performance electrical solutions in renewables, energy storage, and infrastructure. It’s all about smart energy to power a sustainable future.

Bringing hands-on waste collection and resource recovery expertise into Sycle, Ascot Bin Hire strengthens our ability to reduce waste, recover more and keep valuable materials in use.

Locale deepens our specialist utilities capability, adding a like-minded team known for strong safety leadership, practical thinking and a solutions-first approach.

Expanding our footprint in a high-growth region, McFadyen Pipeline Construction brings specialist stormwater and pipeline capability, supported by a highly experienced local team.

L&D Contracting strengthens our self-performing civil capability, bringing deep local expertise to support growing infrastructure demand in Queensland.

Timms Group expands our haulage and infrastructure delivery capability, helping us to mobilise across major projects along the east coast.

An exciting new chapter begins with Davison Earthmovers, bringing shared values, a highly experienced local team and self-performing civil and earthmoving capability to support our growth.