The people behind Paverpol
Paverpol International is a company with an international image. Paverpol and all related products are available in over 40 countries.
New owners since January 2019
Brigitte and Edwin Broekmeijer ánd Hans and Carin Houmes are the new owners of Paverpol International. At the start of 2019 they took over the company from Daaf Schipper.
Paverpol International has been an established name for years worldwide. This is mainly due to Jossy and Jan de Roode, who started the company in the nineties of the previous century. Subsequently Daaf was active for five years. Now it’s Brigitte, Edwin, Hans and Carin’s turn. They are enthusiastically working on expanding the company further. One of the first changes that has been made, was the move to new busines premises in Kapelle. Investments were also made in a more efficient order and invoicing process, faster logistics processing and a new website. Next on the agenda is the introduction of new products.
25 years of Paverpol
From flower pot to float: Paverpol has conquered the world from Zeeland
KAPELLE – Perhaps it has caught the eye. A flower pot in a garden, made from an old pair of jeans. Or a statue of textile. Almost certainly made with Paverpol. A hobby material that conquered the world from Burgh-Haamstede 25 years ago.
“I discovered Paverpol by accident at the Volksuniversiteit in Middelburg. Someone was working on it and I wanted to experiment with it ”, says Jossy de Roode from Burgh-Haamstede. She drove to Bergen op Zoom, to Paul Versijp, to get a pot. He is the inventor of this polymer that can not only harden textiles but also make them weather resistant.
De Roode was soon completely addicted to the material. Experimented and invented all kinds of applications, such as statues. Because once hardened, it can be painted well. In consultation with the inventor, De Roode and her husband started selling Paverpol. That was in 1995. “We had a company in product promotion at the time, so it was familiar territory for us. I sent some pictures to magazines in the hope that someone would pick it up. And they all did, ”says Jossy de Roode. The effect was huge and unexpected. “We received as many as 200 phone calls a day.” That could only lead to one conclusion: Paverpol had potential.
In 47 countries
Workshops were organized, soon followed by training courses for instructors. The Zuidhoek in Zierikzee was called in for the logistics part and the company grew rapidly. Paverpol was hot in the Netherlands. After a first visit to Dallas, the world’s largest international fair for hobby materials, the international market was also conquered. The company has since grown into a company with customers in 47 different countries. “Our first customer came from Denmark”, says Jan de Roode. “Now we are all over Europe, but also in Australia, Canada, America, Mexico, Suriname and Russia, for example.”
After 25 years, Paverpol is no longer only used to make garden ornaments or statues. The liquid substance has many more possibilities. It is used in paintings, popular with carnival float builders and living statues for their costumes. “And an artist has even used it to turn fluff from tumble dryers into acoustic wall panels,” says Carin Houmes. For a year now she has been an owner of Paverpol International, together with her husband Hans and friends Brigitte and Edwin Broekmeijer.
Business premises
In the past year, a lot of energy has been put into optimizing visibility on the internet and the webshop has been set up. Distribution is again in our own hands, now from a business premises in Kapelle. “But we are looking for something bigger, because we also want to give workshops”, says Hans Houmes. “And we are fully engaged in product development. For example, we would like to introduce our own paint. And if possible, we would like to go back to exhibitions. ” Founders Jossy and Jan de Roode are still involved in the company. They provide advice, train course leaders and maintain international contacts.
