New Energy, New Era: How IFE Is Elevating To Its Next Level

A Planned Transition, Not A Disruption

Long-standing shareholder Bennie Nortman has stepped back from IFE to focus his energy on Power Elevators Spares, which now operates as an independent business with its own shareholder structure. Taking his place as shareholder and Operations Director is Pedro Rodrigues — someone the leadership team describes not as an outsider stepping in, but as a known and trusted figure completing a long-planned strategic puzzle.

"From day one, Pedro ticked all the boxes," says IFE CEO Clive Nortman. "We weren't looking for a silent shareholder or an outsider to the industry. We needed someone who understood the business operationally, commercially and technically — and who also fit our culture and the way we work with clients."

That culture matters deeply to Rodrigues too. "There's a family feel inside the business," he says. "IFE wanted somebody who would strengthen that culture, not change it."
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Built Inside The Industry

Rodrigues brings a career that spans nearly every level of the lift and escalator market — from an apprenticeship with Otis, to running a maintenance business in Mozambique, to twelve years leading WITTUR Southern Africa across operations, sales, key accounts and technical support on the African continent. Along the way, he was closely involved in some of South Africa's largest vertical-transportation projects, including the Fourways Mall development, comprising roughly 137 lifts, escalators and platform lifts.

"I've never operated like a traditional subcontractor," he explains. "I ran my business like a mini-corporate structure — working alongside sales teams, helping secure projects, then managing delivery from start to finish."
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A Leadership Structure Built On Complementary Strengths

IFE's leadership team is now organised around clearly defined roles: Clive Nortman overseeing overall management and commercial direction, Suresh Rajmoney driving sales and client engagement, Ian Ludewick anchoring the technical side as Technical Director, and Pedro Rodrigues taking responsibility for operations — as an invested shareholder, not an external appointment.

"The difference now is that we have someone with genuine, on-the-ground operational ownership," says Nortman. "Pedro has equity in the business and skin in the game."
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Ready For Bigger Projects

The shift isn't just structural — it changes what IFE is able to take on. "Before Pedro joined, I wouldn't have seriously considered projects larger than about 20 units," Nortman admits. "Now we can comfortably pursue 100-unit installations. We have the operational structures, and now we have the operational experience to match them."

This positions IFE to compete for large-scale commercial developments that were previously the near-exclusive territory of multinational elevator firms — a market IFE is determined to reach. "The goal," Nortman says, "is ultimately to reach that upper tier of the industry."
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Investing In The Next Generation

Beyond growth, IFE's leadership is acutely aware of the skills pressures facing the broader industry. "Across South Africa, there's less and less experience coming through," Rodrigues notes. "What we're focused on now is building the right team beneath us for the future — combining experienced leadership with younger people, technology and structured operational systems."
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Proudly South African, With Continental Ambitions

IFE continues to be defined by its Level 2 B-BBEE status, 51% black ownership, and CIDB Grade 7 certification — credentials that matter increasingly to clients navigating localisation and transformation requirements in a market shaped by international consolidation.

While broader African expansion plans remain on the horizon, the message from IFE's leadership today is clear: this is not a business in transition. It's a business preparing to scale.