About Us
Brennan and Associates is a licensed investigation company that has been providing professional services to Insurance, Corporate, Government and Private sector clients for over 30 years. We are a company built around strong core values and high ethical standards. Having conducted over 14,000 investigations, we have established a reputation as one of the most trusted, reliable and experienced investigation firms in Australia.
Click on the timeline below to reveal significant milestones in our business ……
Our Beginnings……
The company was started by John and Gwen Brennan in the late 1980’s and gradually grew into one of Western Australia’s most trusted and reliable investigation firms on the back of the hard work and dedication of its founders. Our company quickly earned a reputation for producing high quality, cost effective investigations for our clients, many of whom we still have strong relationships with today .
Mark joins the business…..
In 1996, John’s son Mark joined the business and under the guidance of John, he quickly developed into a senior factual investigator and leading figure in the business . The business continues to grow and develop new clientele.
Ady joins the team……
In 2004, Mark takes over the daily operations of the business. It was also around this time that Ady Claxton joined the organisation as a factual investigator and he quickly rose to the position of senior investigator, specialising in complex and psychological injury claims.
A new era……
Mark takes ownership of the business and implements a strategy that would see the company grow from a small team of 4 investigators to a team of 25 investigators, servicing a growing clientele. Under the management of Ady Claxton, the business starts up a new surveillance division which is a key step in the company moving forward and remaining competitive in a national market. The company also starts its public liability division with Senior Liability Adjuster Angela Anson joining the team.
Building on our strengths……
The company has continued to grow steadily, securing a number of major contracts with insurers including Allianz and QBE, providing a solid platform from which to build on moving forward.The Company was also successful in its tender to the WA State Government for the provision of HR investigation services which sees the birth of a new specialist division and saw us welcome Simon Smith to the team as our Director of Workplace Investigations. Significantly, this year also saw us welcome a new partner/director into the company with our long term manager Ady Claxton joining forces with Mark on the journey towards our 30th year and beyond.
Moving on up……
After 20 years at our much loved Midland offices, it was time to say goodbye….. and in July 2017 the business moves into our brand new office in Rivervale, in readiness for our 30th anniversary in 2018!!!!
Company Expanding
The company continued its growth by formally expanding into the General Insurance Investigations sector. Throughout ‘Covid 19’, the business remained focused on providing reliable professional service to our valued clients.
Paul Woodfield formally commenced in the role of Factual Investigations Manager in 2023 and became a director and part owner in late 2024. Paul was instrumental in researching and implementing a new company case file management system, which has streamlined our processes and provided significant benefits in terms of our cyber security environment.
Our Management Team
Ady Claxton
Director Operations Manager
Ady has been working at Brennan and Associates for 12 years. Initially joining as a factual investigator, Ady was instrumental in setting up the surveillance division and he continues to oversee this area of the business today. Ady is also responsible for staff training and compliance. He has a background in Policing (in the UK) and has extensive experience in conducting complex insurance investigations, managing personnel, file management and file auditing. Ady holds a Certificate IV Government Investigations and Certificate III in Investigative Services.
Paul Woodfield
Director – Factual Investigations Manager
Paul commenced with the business in 2013 and has previous Policing experience (UK & Australia), where he specialised in Criminal investigation and Surveillance. Paul is a qualified Fire Investigator, holding a Graduate Certificate in Fire Investigation, a Diploma and Cert IV in Health and Safety in the Workplace, Cert 3 in Investigation Services and Cert 4 Government Investigations. Paul became an owner of the business in 2024 and is the Factual Investigations Manager, overseeing all Factual Investigations and Investigators. Paul strongly believes in an innovative and collaborative approach to investigations.
Simon Smith
Director Workplace Investigation Services
Simon is the head of our Workplace Investigation Services division. Simon brings a wealth of knowledge and professionalism to the business and under his management our Workplace Investigations division is quickly becoming a preferred provider for a number of legal firms and corporate clients. Simon has previously held the position of Principal Investigator for the Commonwealth Government Workplace Regulator and has a background in Policing in the UK and Western Australia. He holds a Diploma of Government (Investigations), Certificate IV Government (Investigations) and Certificate III in Investigative Services and has extensive experience in evidence gathering, witness management and interpretation of criminal legislation.
Office Team
Elaine, Lisa & Lorraine
Update ‘Office Team’. Elaine, Lisa and Lorraine run the office and are responsible for file and data management and accounts. Elaine has been with the company since 1996.