Wearnes has had a long history in South-East Asia, growing from a family-owned automotive dealer at the turn of the twentieth-century to a multi-national conglomerate headquartered in Singapore.

The story really began in 1893 when 14-year-old Theodore James Benjamin (T.J.B) Wearnes set sail from Fremantle in Western Australia for Singapore to begin a five-year apprenticeship with New Harbour Dock Co. Ltd. He worked his way up the ranks and eventually became a ships engineer.

With his brother, Charlie Frederick Foster Wearne, the young T.J.B. opened a shop in 1906 at Orchard Road under the name of C.F.F. Wearne and Co. selling second-hand cars and spare parts. The start-up capital was $700. With savvy foresight and shrewd business acumen, the brothers saw and believed in the future of automobiles and invested accordingly.

By 1910, the company had made a name for itself based on trust, impeccable service and solid inventory. So much so that it was appointed sole agents for Ford cars in Singapore and Malaya. In the first year, it sold 137 cars, and the next, 300.  Impressive figures given the population and disposable income at a time when owning a car was still very much a luxury.

New agencies were acquired and the company grew.

On 26 November 1912, the brothers took the company public under the name Wearne Brothers Ltd.

Branches were opened in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang beginning what would be a standard business model for the company, based on automotive branches and wholly-owned subsidiary companies.

Over the years, more brands were added to the Wearnes stable. The Morris franchise was secured, along with British Leyland, Austin, Jaguar, Daimler, Rolls-Royce, Chrysler and Holden.

In the 1930s, the company introduced the much loved Yellow Top Cab service in Singapore. And in 1937, it inaugurated the first commercial air service between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

In the 1960s and 70s, in sync with the world economy, the company diversified into heavy machinery and equipment for the industrial, agriculture and construction industries. By 1977, the company had issued capital worth over $45m.

In the early 1980s, it diversified and invested in the technology business.  It was one of the first Singapore companies to manufacture PCs and disk drives and business grew rapidly.  Among its more successful ventures was Advanced Logic Research, a technology company which it eventually spun off and which today produces high-performing modem drivers. 

The efforts were noticed by the Wall Street Journal in 1989, which named Wearnes one of the 66 companies of the future to watch.  In the 90s, Wearnes continued to diversify its operations even further, investing in technology manufacturing and real estate in China and other parts of the region.  In fact, Wearnes was one of the first Singapore companies to build its ‘second wing’ in China.

As the twentieth century drew to a close, Wearnes invested in more groundbreaking technology and started manufacturing Flexible Printed Circuits (FPC) which are today used in many mobile electronic devices.

In 2005, to meet the challenges of the new millennium and the increasing globalisation, Wearnes underwent an extensive restructuring programme. In particular, it took the opportunity to streamline, integrate and simplify its diverse businesses and organisational structure into three core divisions: automotive, technology manufacturing and technology solutions.

Today, nearly a century after C.F.F. Wearne and Co. opened its doors to business, Wearnes remains committed to the continuous investment in and commercialisation of innovative ideas, as well as the ongoing building of the brand names of its proprietary products.