FEATURE
FROM EXTRUSIONS TO ENTRANCE MATTING
COBA Flooring is an international company with its roots set firmly in the heart of Britain. Here, we take a look at the history behind its innovations and driving force.
Some companies seem to spring up from nowhere. Some last the course, and others fade into oblivion. While COBA Flooring is a relatively new brand, the British business behind it has a long and successful heritage in innovative product design, not to mention specialist knowledge of the matting manufacturing industry. With a global reach as part of COBA International, the group headquartered in Leicestershire, has become one of Great Britain’s top performing privately owned businesses. It employs over 700 people across six continents, with its main manufacturing operation firmly anchored in the Midlands, here in the UK.
LONG SUCCESSFUL
HERITAGE The first COBA group company was founded in 1966 originally starting from a small workshop in Coventry. That business manufactured plastic extrusions, primarily for the automotive industry. The business grew and grew. As COBA flourished, came the idea in the 1970’s to utilize PVC extrusions to manufacture plastic ‘woven’ safety matting for factories, leisure venues and even oil rigs! That product, ‘COBAmat’ still exists today. COBA’s matting manufacturing operation grew
38
to such a level that a separate business was formed, trading as COBA Europe. By now the range had expanded to include loose lay entrance mats and other floor products, the precursor to commercial entrance matting systems. It is today one of the leading names in the industrial safety flooring market, with sales offices and warehouses throughout Europe and South Africa.
LAUNCH OF COBA
FLOORING The COBA Europe business evolved into new markets. It also introduced new entrance matting options to what was then, a rather modest range. The Premier range of interlocking PVC/carpet tiles formed the initial collection, followed more recently by the introduction of custom made to order aluminium entrance systems (Plan.a) and other commercial flooring products in the ‘luxury vinyl tile’ category, namely, Tough-Lock Naturals. GRP anti-slip products for internal/external walkways and stairs also feature in the range. The natural progression for COBA Europe was to create a specialist division dedicated to the construction and commercial flooring sector. And so, COBA Flooring was launched in January 2014 with the ethos, Your Project, Our Passion.
“We have customised our brand to deliver a bespoke, specialist service to our flooring customers, working alongside them on both new build and refurbishment projects. We also recruited an experienced Business Development Manager who works exclusively with contractors and commercial flooring customers,” explained COBA Flooring’s Sales Director, Chris Stanley.
AT YOUR SERVICE The customer experience is top-priority for COBA Flooring. The business has internal and external sales and customer support teams, and works with a number of contract flooring fitting partners throughout the country. Free onsite surveys are available, as are free product samples and detailed data sheets.
Chris Stanley commented: “It is our aim to give our customers as much product support as possible, whether they are involved with the planning stages or at the end of the project. We work with, and assist, architects, specifiers, main contractors and flooring contractors, and interior designers, and significantly offer BIM ready products. As manufacturers, customers are increasingly turning to COBA Flooring
www.tomorrowsflooring.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60