Working at Coats

14 years

I manage a team that inspires and motivates consumers to purchase our products through; offering great products in fabulous colors, inspiring designs and patterns, interactive website, social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, and our editorial and advertising in our magazines.

The ability to multi-task and still stay focused!

I am constantly learning something new from my colleagues and team members.  Whether they work in North America or Europe they provide me with new ways of thinking

The launch of www.redheart.com site on time and within budget, the success of the Red Heart boutique yarns added to the range in 2010, increased number of designers who want to work with Red Heart yarns and the great sales growth we had in 2011.

Started in August 1973, so am in my 39th year.

I work for one of the leading textile companies that also was one of the founding 'fathers' of the Industrial Revolution.

Patience, determination, analytical skills, dyeing theory & practice, colour physics knowledge and coaching and team building skills.

Some level of 'Lean management' proven application skills would be useful as well as being willing to travel.

The diversity of Coats and the willingness to learn and try out new ways of doing things. Also, there is a great team spirit and there have been some very memorable gatherings and achievements from the teams.

I have also made a lot of friends during my time with the company and always look forward to seeing them.

There are many; but keeping our Sri Lanka factory open and supplying the remaining garment industry during fierce civil unrest in the late '80s and early nineties when most other companies had closed or people had left ranks highly.

I've been working at Coats for almost 6 months now.

I look after Coats social media presence and mangage content for the Coats UK Webshop.

You'd need to have an interest in social media for a start and a marketing background would also be useful. Project and time management skills are also a must as you need to be able to spin many plates at the same time.

It's great to be able to work with colleagues from across lots of different areas of the business. Sharing ideas and thinking about new ways of to improve our social media presence.

Although it is still early days, I'm proud of how our social media presence is growing. We're defintely learning as an organisation how to engage with our online communities across different platforms We've had some good successes to date and know what best practice looks like. I've no doubt that the coming year will be exciting one.

13 years

I work for a multinational company that is the largest thread manufacturer in the world.

Our threads are used in the garments that most of us wear and used by big brands like Gap, Tommy etc. Our threads are used in practically, everything that you can imagine, from apparel to footwear to car seat belts to bed sheets to towels etc.

The ability to understand details of a thread business but also recognise the bigger picture as well. A good analogy is a camera with a zoom, which can look at details and the bigger picture as well.

Coats has a rich heritage and culture and is a very professional organisation. Most of the people in the organisation are very passionate about the work they do and have huge knowledge in their area. This makes working with other team members very easy.

Working with people of various nationalities is also an important aspect in Coats and gives me an understanding of various cultures.

I have been fortunate to work in 2 different functions in Coats - Sales and Marketing and Supply Chain. I have enjoyed wide experience and a different job role every 2 years over the last 13 years in Coats.

One highlight for me was working on the implementation of PPDS  in Ambas, our largest and most complex mill.

I joined Coats as a graduate trainee in the UK in 2000.

I am based at the headquarters of one of Coats' most important customers for our Industrial Division and manage the global relationship between the two companies.

To be successful in my role, you would need to have a good understanding of the global apparel industry, excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively on your own initiative.

My role involves communicating with Coats colleagues world-wide on a day-to-day basis.  I enjoy the feeling of belonging to an international Coats family and I can rely on the support of my global colleagues.

I am proud of the Coats Colour Express launch as I was a member of the original project group.  It is very rewarding to see the innovative tools and processes of Coats Colour Express bringing benefits to our customers in fast and accurate thread sampling.

I’ve worked for Coats for nearly 4 years, starting my career as a management trainee (MT) and recently promoted to a department head of Opti China Logistics team.

I plan the production lines of our zips factories in China and ensure that we deliver products on time and maximise the utilisation of the machines.

During my early years at Coats it was definitely the skill of listening effectively. Throughout my career I have constantly been learning new skills, and now working in my managerial role, communicating effectively with my team and other departments is a key skill.

In my opinion ‘best-practice’ can always be learned from experienced people who do their job efficiently, in a down to earth manner.

I like that I can work in such an open, flexible and harmonious working environment. I particularly enjoy communicating and working with colleagues from across continents on global based projects.

Coats is a big global family and being well connected and working with mutual-respect will be a key enabler of growth moving forward.

My team and I are very proud to be working for a leading global company.

During 2011 the Zip logistics team worked hard to achieve well managed and controlled stock costs and were proud to be able to contribute to Group performance during a difficult economic period.

Over 28 years.

I lead one of the most complex regions in Coats, selling sewing threads and zips in 51 countries, with 17 factories and some 3,000 employees.

You will need to create the conditions for profitable sales growth by promoting the right mind-set and removing barriers.  You will need to drive a high performance organisation and create an environment where employees are respected and can maximise their potential.

And above all you will need to surround yourself with a professional and resilient team where values of openness, honesty and trust are the prevailing ones.

I enjoy the variety, geographical and cultural.

One of the things I am most proud of recently is the way we have survived a global recession profitably and without losing focus on customers, service and quality.

7 years

I'm in the business of looking after Coats people.

Lots of skills are needed - leadership and  communication, problem solving and creative thinking, negotiation and teamwork / motivation and partnership but most of all it is recognising that we are all people, working together.

I have lots of opportunities to constantly refresh my thinking about how to do things differently to best lead my team and business.

I am proud of our recent achievements in employee relations and safety - for example in 2010, we received the ‘Thai Labour Standard 8001’  award and also achieved 1,000,000 hours without a serious accident report.

I started working for Coats as a Business Development Executive in Global Key Accounts (GKA) in December 2011. I was very happy to join the company because of its great reputation in industrial threads and yarns.

I work for the Global Key Account Management team and we constantly look to offer the most advanced sewing thread and needlecraft products to existing and prospective customers.

As a Business Development Executive, I provide information about the wide range of threads and services available to our apparel buyers and vendors.

The most important skills are to have a comprehensive knowledge of thread technology and the products and services Coats offers, to be able to build great relationship with customers and to have excellent communication and problem solving skills.

Problem solving skills are definitely a must: when dealing with customers’ issues, we always need to resolve problems quickly and in an efficient way.

Working at a leading global player like Coats, I am very impressed by the organisation structure and environment: it is a professional, dynamic and friendly place to work. I have attended events such as the annual sales conference and that has allowed me to see the long term vision for Coats.

I also admire Coats’ core values - people at Coats have strong commitments with the organisation and believe that they can drive success.

The year 2011 was a difficult year for the global economy, but our GKA team performance was 35% higher than last year. This success reflects our team’s innovation, creativity and tremendous efforts.

I am really proud of working in the GKA team because they are very supportive and totally believe in the spirit of teamwork.