History
ServiceFM is the merged business entity that evolved from companies that operated under the Academy Services banner.
The Academy brand had humble beginnings as a mop and bucket cleaning company when it was started by Glen Browne at the age of 16 in 1979.
With an entrepreneurial spirit, Mr Browne was running enterprises from the age of seven.
From trading marbles to high value and rare stamps at 11 and setting up a plant nursery after that, Mr Browne grew up with a strong work ethic and a philosophy of saying “yes” to every opportunity.
It was no surprise to family or friends when Mr Browne decided to start a commercial cleaning company. He bought canary-yellow overalls, and with his mop and bucket, he started a window cleaning business.
Regular clients began asking him whether he commercially cleaned premises after hours. His answer was always yes. Not knowing how to operate a floor polisher, he bought one and asked for a quick lesson, and then practised on his mother’s kitchen floor.
Ten years later Mr Browne introduced his friend Paul Rowse to the company and together they had a vision for a corporate cleaning company that would be driven by excellence in service and become a national player.
This vision was achieved as, with continual growth in Adelaide, Service FM began winning contracts with government departments, health services, office buildings and hotels in Sydney and Melbourne more than a decade ago.
It has since expanded into Brisbane, Perth, Hobart and Darwin.
Growing with the industry
As business changed and industry expectations grew, the corporate cleaning side of the company grew to also include e-safety and tagging and facility management divisions, operating under the names eSafe and Universal FM.
With defence industry and high security clearances, Service FM has current contracts in commercial cleaning, facilities management and testing and tagging with mining giants including Santos, Beach Energy and Rio Tinto, both in capital cities and on regional sites, Adelaide Airport, Nexus Health Group, Telstra, medi-hotels, correctional services facilities and in health and aged care.
With increasing national growth, the company was rebranded to ServiceFM in 2021, recognising that businesses taking on its services wanted to work with a company owned and managed by one group.
We are proud that Academy has now grown into a truly successful national service company operating in each state of Australia, and our goal is to continue to provide excellence in service to our clients as ServiceFM.
