Management

Gary holds the degrees of LL.B (Hons) and LL.M (with dist.) from Victoria University of Wellington, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD) from Cornell University, New York.

He has extensive international business experience and has been involved in numerous cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

Dr Weiss is Chairman of Secure Parking Pty Ltd, Executive Director of Ariadne Australia Ltd, and a director of Premier Investments Limited, Ridley Corporation Ltd, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and The Centre for Independent Studies.

He was executive director of Guinness Peat Group plc from 1990 to April 2011 and has held directorships of numerous companies, including Westfield Group, Tower Australia Ltd, Australian Wealth Management Limited, Tyndall Australia Ltd (Deputy Chairman), Joe White Maltings Ltd (Chairman), CIC Ltd, Whitlam Turnbull & Co Ltd and Industrial Equity Ltd.

He has authored numerous articles on a variety of legal and commercial topics.

Paul joined Coats in November 2009 and became Group Chief Executive on 31 December 2009.

Previously Paul was Group Chief Executive of Low & Bonar PLC, a global performance materials group, quoted on the London Stock Exchange, and prior to that MD at Unipart International, the leading European automotive aftermarket supplier.

Paul has wide experience in global manufacturing, as well as strategy consultancy and M&A advisory services.

Mike has over 25 years' experience in investment banking and general management, both in New Zealand and the UK.

He is a Director of Guinness Peat Group plc as well as Breakwater Ltd, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, the Retirement Villages Group, Tainui Group and NZ Windfarms Ltd.

Mike is also the current Chairman of PGG Wrightson Finance. He previously held various senior roles at Southpac Corporation and Westpac in New Zealand.

Blake has wide corporate experience working for companies in both the UK and overseas.

He was an Executive Director of the Guinness Peat Group plc from March 1990 to July 2001 and remains a Non-Executive Director. He is a Founder Principal of Worsley Associates LLP and has previously served on the boards of various UK listed companies.

Simon is currently a non-executive director of The Morgan Crucible Company plc, Kazakhmys plc, PZ Cussons plc and MAREX Financial and is a trustee of Macmillan Cancer Support.

He was previously Chief Executive of the London Metal Exchange, held roles as Group Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer of Jardine Fleming in Hong Kong and spent a long career with the Swire Group, holding positions in the US, Japan and Hong Kong.

Alan is Chairman of Kiran Energy, a solar power developer he co-founded that is based in Bombay.

He also chairs Griffin Growth Partners, a specialist strategic advisory firm that assists clients in developing and implement winning strategies in India. He was earlier an Executive Director of Tata Sons, where his responsibility was internationalisation of the Tata Group. From 1998 to 2003 he was Chairman of the Jardine Matheson Group in India.

His earlier career included positions as Special Advisor to the British Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. John Major MP, and a member of the Policy Unit at No.10 Downing Street; Strategy Development Director at United Distillers plc; Chief Executive of Piersons, a division of Courtaulds Textiles plc, and as an investment banker with S.G. Warburg & Co Ltd.

Alan was educated at Downing College, Cambridge, and the Harvard Business School. He was made an OBE in 1994.

Rob has over 20 years experience in investment management and corporate governance.

He is Chairman of Guinness Peat Group plc and Summerset Group Holdings Limited and is also a director and audit and risk committee member of Aquasure Pty Ltd.

Rob is a director of  Turners and Growers Ltd and CallPlus Ltd, and is also a board or advisory board member of several private equity and hedge funds globally. 

He has previously directed the investments of a large family office, and held board appointments in numerous private sector and public sector organisations in New Zealand. 

Michael leads the Crafts Division globally and has more than 20 years of management experience.

Prior to this current role he was Chief Operating Officer, Crafts Divsion and has also served as Chief Supply Chain Officer for Coats.

Michael has over 20 years of experience in Supply Chain Management and IT, having lived and worked in South America, North America, Europe and Asia. He has a degree in Business and Production management from Reutlingen University and completed the Harvard General Manager Program.

In his role as Chief Supply Chain Officer, Chris is responsible for driving supply chain strategy across the business, including procurement and supplier management, manufacturing strategy and best practice, risk mitigation (including health & safety standards) and quality management.

Chris joined Coats as Group Procurement Director in 2010 following 15 years in senior supply chain roles in the automotive and rail industries. Prior to that Chris also held senior financial posts in both automotive and pharmaceuticals.

Chris has a degree in Economics from Exeter University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Richard joined Coats in March 2011 and, as Chief Information Officer, has global responsibility for Information Technology within the organisation.

Over the last 20 years he has worked in a number of international businesses including Cadbury, BAT, Heineken and Mars, as well as being involved in a technology start up.  

He has a Manufacturing Engineering degree from Manchester University and in his career has held roles in Asia, Europe and North America. His experience with Information Technology includes delivering global transformation programmes in Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain, HR and Finance. 

Johan leads the Crafts Division globally and has more than 24 years of sales, marketing, and management experience within Coats.

These include serving as Managing Director Coats Industrial North America, Managing Director Coats Mexico and Central America and Vice President Marketing Coats & Clark.

Prior to joining Coats Johan was involved in two successful start ups in Canada. He graduated from Loyola college with a B.A. in Economics and completed the Harvard Business Management Program in 2002.

Richard (Dick) directs global human resources for Coats plc.

Prior to his appointment in 2007, Dick was Vice President of Human Resources for ten years for Coats’ operations in North America, including US, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. He served as interim Global Director of Human Resources for Coats plc from 2000 to 2002.

Prior to joining Coats North America, Dick served in various human resource capacities over an 18 year period for Hoechst Celanese Corporation in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

He graduated from BS University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and holds a Masters in Human Resources and Labour Relations from the University of Minnesota.

Frazer joined Coats in 2010 as Chief Commercial Officer and has responsibility for developing and implementing the group’s growth-based strategy along with responsibility for marketing, R&D, communications, digital development and Corporate Responsibility.

Frazer has extensive international general management, commercial and consulting experience within companies such as Reckitt & Colman (now Reckitt Benckiser), Sony, McKinsey, Capital One and United Biscuits. He holds a degree in Natural Sciences and Management Sciences from Cambridge University.

Andy directs global human resources for Coats plc and is based in the UK.

Prior to his appointment Andy worked for BP Lubricants, where he held the role of Global Head of Human Resources, based in Swindon, UK. He brings over 27 years of HR experience to Coats, having worked for blue-chip companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals, Kellogg, PepsiCo and Unilever.

Andy has lived and worked in multiple geographies including the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, France and the US and has a first class Biochemistry degree from the University of Leeds.

Rajiv leads the Coats Industrial Division and has responsibility for its global operations.

During his career he has worked at companies such as Westinghouse, SAAB, Honeywell, GE and Shell, and his experience spans sales, marketing, M&A, business development and operations. The vast majority of his career has been dedicated to growing or turning around businesses.

Rajiv has a degree in Mechanical Engineering, as well as an MBA from University of Pittsburgh, USA. He has lived in many different countries and covered all continents during his career.

Richard joined Coats as Chief Financial Officer in February 2012. Previously he held the same position at Topaz Energy and Marine, an oil field services company.

Richard also worked for FTSE 250 company Geest plc, an international food manufacturer, and was made CFO following its takeover by the Bakkavor Group. Richard qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young before joining Dresdner Kleinwort Benson's Corporate Finance team.

His experience includes a broad range of financial and commercial responsibilities including debt and equity capital market transactions, M&A and as well as leading senior management functions.

Richard holds a BSc (Hons) in Geography from Loughborough University.