Nowocoat Industrial A/S

Nowocoat: Turnover grows from DKK 0 to 100 million in five years

Starting from literally nothing, the Kolding-based company Nowocoat Industrial A/S has achieved a turnover of DKK 100 million in just five years.

“It’s gone completely according to plan, and we’ll be growing a lot more in the coming years,” said Nina Reinert, chair of the board.

This year, the paint and coating factory on Stålvej in Kolding reached a financial milestone with an annual turnover surpassing DKK 100 million for the first time. The factory is owned by the Reinert family, who divested themselves of the majority of their business ventures five years ago, leaving them with passion, commitment, capital and a tax ID number in the Danish Central Business Register. Their goal was to invest all that into building the company of their dreams.

“We wanted to build a company with the best people in the industry and the best technology. We wanted to create a company where the customers’ demand for coating was the focal point of all our activities. Innovation, growth and flexible service would be our DNA, and that’s something we have invested heavily in,” said Nina Reinert, chair of the company’s board. She is very satisfied seeing the returns from that strategy now being reflected in the company’s turnover.

“We’re happy that we succeeded. It confirms that we have the right strategy, and we expect to grow a lot more in the coming years,” she added.

A strategy based on investments and growth

In 2018, Nowocoat inaugurated its 10,000 m2 factory on Stålvej in Kolding with state-of-the-art production and development facilities. There is still a long way to go before the factory’s maximum production capacity is reached, but there are also good growth opportunities in the area of functional coating, according to the company CEO, Ole E. Jensen.

“We are constantly developing new products with a view to optimising our customers’ production and businesses. There is a lot more focus on environmentally friendly solutions today, and this increases the demand for functional coating. We have a unique opportunity to adapt our products to our customers’ needs and production facilities and processes. For example, we have developed and supplied coating that is easier to apply and dries faster. This can amount to a big difference to our customers’ bottom line, which makes us a very attractive partner on the market,” he said.

In addition to the company’s production facilities and lab, its flexible and agile approach to the market is also based on skilled employees.

“We have put together the ‘national team’ for all the positions in the field of paints and coating, including the mixing department in the lab, accounting and sales. We started with a team of 10 employees, and we number about 35 today. And we still only hire the best of the best in the industry. This gives us a know-how and capacity for innovation that is singular in our industry,” explained Ole E. Jensen.  

“It’s rare to see a patent on a paint, but we have already developed several patented products, such as Coolingpaint - a product we have just been issued a patent for in the United States, expiring in 2037 - which reflects heat and thereby not only reduces the global temperature increase but also reduces a building’s need for cooling, which is of course an energy-intensive process. Coolingpaint has been developed for wood, cladding and roofs, and there is no other coating like it on the market. We have also developed Denmark’s first environmentally approved algaecide,” he added.

In addition, Nowocoat’s production is ISO-certified and environmentally certified, ensuring that customers can be confident about receiving a uniform and environmentally friendly solution every time.  

Goal: A turnover of DKK 300 million by 2025

The DKK 100 million turnover is a milestone for the company, but both the CEO and board agree that the company should grow much more in the coming years.

“Seen from the outside, Nowocoat’s rapid growth may look rather steep, but it’s been a controlled rise. We have had a unique opportunity to build a modern factory with a capacity to match our ambition. We have the key people we need for the foreseeable future - even if we continue growing up to the DKK 300 million target in the coming years,” said Ole E. Jensen, who expects that Nowocoat will round that milestone by 2025.

In addition to its organic growth, in 2019 Nowocoat also acquired Lurrell Industries A/S, a company known in particular for its surface treatments for garden furniture and wooden kitchen utensils.