It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Rob Coleman who died on February 3rd of cancer. Rob was well-known throughout the brush industry as a vibrant and passionate man who took great pride in his work and whose enthusiasm affected all who knew him. 

We extend our deepest sympathies to Rob's family and friends. An obituary commemorating Rob's life will be published in Brushwork Magazine of which he was a co-founder. We will inform you of its publication once available. 

Please see the below obituary by Rob's friend Mark Samuel.

I first met Rob at college in 1977 where we were both studying business, and it soon became apparent that he had a good eye for entrepreneurship when he and another friend of ours started a business selling records to fellow students.

One of the many activities we did together was playing squash which led him to meet my father.  I’m not sure if it was Rob’s squash talents, but my father, Herbert Samuel, saw his potential and offered him a job at Delbanco Meyer (DMC), then the world’s leading supplier of bristle and brush making materials. Rob soon took charge of our synthetic filament business both in the UK and abroad, and was also heavily involved in our machinery business which included Jackson's paint rollers. 

One of Rob’s first jobs at DMC was organizing our stand at Interbrossa in Freiburg, and he combined his many skills in this, designing and building our stand from scratch. 

Rob was also a very skilled driver, but whilst we were driving the van to Freiburg, he managed to knock half the stand off the roof when going through a low tunnel in Belgium!

In 1986, buoyed by his success with Jacksons, and keen to start his own businesses, he left DMC and set up Coleman Hall Products together with his brother-in-law Brian Hall, and they launched Brushwork magazine.  He remained as sales agent for Jacksons and their successful relationship continued for many years.  He was also retained as UK sales agent for DMC’s synthetic filament business.

Another successful partnership was working together with Boucherie as their sales agent in the UK (starting in 1987) where I know he was much respected and admired.

Rob also began working with Schuman handles and helped them expand their USA business and developed excellent relationships with all the major paintbrush companies.  Knowing how well Rob was respected in the USA, DMC offered him a role of bristle agent for the USA ,and I again had the pleasure of going on trips together to USA (including a bit of skiing!) and introducing him to the delights of visiting Chinese bristle factories.

Undoubtably his most successful relationship with a US brush company was with Wooster where, together with many members of the Coleman family, they have firmly established Wooster as a leading player in the UK brush scene.

One cannot write about Rob without mentioning his passion for golf; a personal highlight was Rob bringing back the British Brushmakers Golf Society in 1998 and sponsoring a new trophy, The Herbert Samuel Memorial Cup - I’ve failed many times to win it!

A special mention to Rob’s wife Bridget, who was a constant loving support not only in his personal life but also in business.

Rob involved both his children, Jessica and William, as well as his brothers, in the business, and it has undoubtably been left in very safe hands.

 

Rob had enormous enthusiasm, energy, drive and passion for life both in his business and private life and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.