Denver's 70th Birthday

Denver Louis Coleman is widely considered to be one of the stalwarts of the South African flooring industry. October last year saw Denver not only celebrating his 70th birthday, but also 20 years since reintroducing the Polyflor brand into South Africa. 

To commemorate both these important milestones, friends, family and staff, were invited to a spitbraai held at the Polyflor head office in Edenvale. Falling in love with the flooring industry “I was first introduced to the flooring business and the Polyflor brand by my father, Louis Coleman, while I was still at school. Louis signed the first Polyflor Agency in South Africa in 1958. He passed his passion for the flooring industry on to me – largely due to the amazing relationship that existed between my father and Polyflor UK”, he says. After school, Denver went to the UK where he studied Plastics Technology at the Mostyn College for Further Education.

Apart from gaining valuable and international hands-on experience there, it was also in the UK that Denver increased his skills base by working his way through the production facility at Polyflor and other related industries.

A lifetime of career highlights 

 Regarding his biggest work-related achievement over the past 40 years, Denver proudly says, “Returning the Polyflor name to its rightful place in 1992 after the business had been bought and closed in 1969 by one of our competitors,” and a 20-year restraint of name and trade was imposed.

Very few in the flooring industry believed Denver would succeed in bringing Polyflor “back to life” after over 20 years absence in the market. However they did not take into account his never say die attitude, sheer determination and passion for Polyflor which saw the business grow from an office at home to what it is today, a major player in the SA Vinyl flooring market. “I have been one of the truly fortunate people in this world who got to spend his life doing what he truly loves and enjoys, and being allowed to build a career and a business around this passion with other like-minded individuals,” Denver says. Polyflor SA is his pride and joy and although it has grown bigger than just the family, he considers all his staff the “Polyflor Family” and the culture is evident throughout the company in the loyalty and dedication of the staff.

Looking ahead
Last year, at Polyflor’s bi-annual national strategy conference held at the Mabula Game Lodge in Bela-Bela, Denver announced certain strategic changes to the company’s senior management structure.

“I felt the time had come for me to hand over the reins to the new generation of flooring industry leaders and to start taking things slower,” he says. Denver will remain on the Polyflor board as its Chairman, but will take a more advisory and mentorship role to the new management.

Commenting on future plans, Denver says he is excited and confident that the team can take Polyflor to the next level. With the leaps and bounds in technology both in manufacturing and business processing we are well positioned to enter the next phase of our business strategy. “Polyflor SA is focused on remaining the trusted flooring partner and advisor to our wide range of long-term clients and installation partners, while at the same time expanding our reach into new industries and markets who are benefiting from our targeted range of flooring and wall protection solutions.” He is going to enjoy watching his “pride and joy” spread her wings and grow.