Wideform's rise as major industry force

From humble beginnings as Wollongong Formwork in 1974 with three employees, the Unanderra-based Wideform Group of Companies grew to find a regular place on the BRW list of the top 500 privately owned companies in Australia.It has more than 700 employees across Wollongong, Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Brisbane, North Queensland, South Australia and now East Timor. According to its website, it provides indirect employment for more than 4000 contractors.The company has five divisions: formwork, building-construction, development, Timor-Leste and the newest member of the stable, the seniors living division, Horizon Living.Managing director and founder Fred Ferreira, who came to Australia in the early 1970s from Portugal, has been a well-known personality in the region, although he now lives in Sylvania Waters.He was the Illawarra Business Person of the Year in 2005 and in the same year he won national recognition by winning an ethnic business award. He celebrated that by giving long-term employees expensive gold watches.The Wideform Group of Companies has taken out a number of business awards over the years, including Illawarra Business of the Year in 2005. It was a regular supporter of charities including the Camp Quality Convoy for Cancer and sponsored the Wollongong Wolves through the Horizon Living brand.The company has had involvement in scores of high-profile projects, including the redevelopment of the Bondi Junction and East Gardens Westfield shopping centres, the Novotel and Ibis hotels at Sydney Olympic Park, Anzac Bridge, RPA Hospital, NSW Police headquarters and the Lang Park upgrade and Magistrate's Court in Brisbane.Under the company name Perform Developments, Wideform was also involved in the development of Wollongong's controversial Victoria Square building in a partnership with developer Glen Tabak.The development was investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and found to have been given favourable treatment by Wollongong City Council town planner Beth Morgan, who was at the time in a relationship with Mr Tabak. However no-one from Wideform, including Mr Ferreira, were persons of interest to ICAC. The corruption watchdog is awaiting advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether to prosecute Mr Tabak.Wideform has been a significant donor of funds to the election campaigns of several Labor state MPs and former Wollongong lord mayor Alex Darling. It has contributed to state branches of the ALP and Liberal Party.More recently, the spotlight has turned onto the circumstances that saw Wideform lease a prime site in the East Timorese capital Dili for a new development.Mr Ferreira is a friend of East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta and political opponents have raised concerns about their relationship, concerns both men have previously dismissed.Dr Ramos Horta recently bestowed the Medal of Merit on Mr Ferreira for his contribution to East Timor, which includes much charity work.In Wollongong, Wideform completed the $85 million seniors living complex Links Seaside on Wollongong Golf Course, under the Horizon Living umbrella. But it recently applied to turn some of the apartments into a private hospital due to a lack of demand. A multimillion-dollar site it part owns, which includes the old Dairy Farmers milk processing plant and distribution centre in Wollongong, has also been listed for auction.