12:00a.m. 27th February 2008

At first glance, Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne and Gympie Showgrounds might seem worlds apart, certainly in terms of their profiles.

But they’ll soon have one thing in common – PVC post-and-rail fencing purchased from Sunshine Coast-based Polvin Fencing Services.

PFS has already provided more than 3.5km of the product at Flemington and is about to provide 400m for a new arena inside the racetrack at Gympie.

The company has also supplied 20km of the fencing to the showpiece Wadham Park Stud in Victoria, private horse properties as far away as Western Australia and a picket fence variation is to be constructed around cricket ovals in both New South Wales and Victoria.

Part owner and director Brian Tonge said securing the Flemington contract in the firm’s first 12 months in operation had brought significant credibility.

“That was certainly a major coup for us ... to get into the premier racecourse in the country in our first year was extraordinary,” he said.

“We started off doing their bridal track, but the more we did the more they wanted.”

The PVC products are formulated at Kunda Park-based Polvin Compounds, founded and owned by Roger Beall and Les Hanslo, both part-owners of Polvin Fencing Services.

Mr Beall and Mr Hanslo also own Melbourne-based Pro Plas (formerly Nylex), which manufactures the fencing and a host of other widely used PVC products.

Mr Tonge said as well as being safer than traditional fences, the major advantage of Polvin’s PVC fencing was its quality.

“There are similar products manufactured overseas, but ours is the only one made for Australian conditions,” he said.

“Australia has much higher UV ratings than most northern hemisphere countries. If your product isn’t correctly formulated to deal with that high UV, it will lose colour, go brittle and lose its original composition within a few years.”

To verify its superiority, Polvin Compounds has a testing laboratory set up in its Kunda Park premises where it is able to compare the performance of its own fencing against that of its overseas-made rivals.

With “more than enough work on at the moment”, Mr Tonge said the company had decided to grow by heading down the franchise track.

“We’ve been getting regular calls from people wanting to be agents or distributors ... or franchisees,” he said.

“We’ve decided to go down the franchise path. Distributors need a premises, staff, product. Franchisees don’t need to hold stock ... we hold that in Melbourne and can send it out at short notice.”

Mr Tonge said PFS had established its draft franchise agreement and would be happy with 20 franchisees in the first 12 months.

“We’ll offer fully equipped trailers with all the tools needed to instal the fences, as well as comprehensive training in selling and installation skills ... and an accounting package,” he said.

“Potential franchisees will have to go through an extensive application process to help us identify whether they’re suitable for us or not.

“You must have people with the rights skills and attitude because ultimately the franchisees’ success will be our success.”

“It’s easy to say, but we’re confident that, as far as quality goes, our products are certainly superior in terms of durability,” Mr Tonge said.

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