Colman began his business career in his family's condiment company,
J. & J. Colman, working in the international division. He became director
Reckitt & Colman plc's, the public successor to J. & J. Colman, overseas board in 1962 and finance director in 1980. He was chairman from 1986 until his retirement in 1995. For his work with the Church, he was awarded the
Cross of St Augustine. He was a fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts. After retiring from Reckitt & Colman plc in 1995, Colman founded Summerdown, a
peppermint farm and distillery in
Hampshire. Summerdown revived the Black Mitcham peppermint crop which had been extinct in England for 50 years. ==Personal life==