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Coats Chairman appointed Chairman of GPG plc

  • 15 Apr 2014

Coats’ parent company, GPG plc, announces that Mike Clasper, currently a Non-Executive Director of GPG plc and Chairman of Coats plc, has also been appointed Chairman of GPG with immediate effect. In addition, Coats’ Non-Executive Director Ruth Anderson has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of GPG and Chair of GPG’s Audit, Finance and Risk Committee also with immediate effect.

Rob Campbell, outgoing Chairman of GPG, will remain on the Board as a non-executive director to maintain continuity as GPG continues the transition to becoming Coats plc.

Mike Clasper said: ‘Rob Campbell has done an excellent job in overseeing GPG’s asset realisation programme and the ongoing investigation by the UK Pensions Regulator. I am very much looking forward to leading GPG through the next stage of its evolution and I am extremely pleased that Rob is remaining on the Board to give us the benefit of his experience and insight.

‘I am also delighted that Ruth is joining the GPG Board as a Non-Executive Director and that she is taking on the important role as Chair of the Audit Committee. Her deep experience in finance and audit together with her non-executive directorships in both the consumer and industrial sectors mean she is ideally placed to do so.’

Mike Clasper is currently Chairman of GPG’s subsidiary Coats plc, the world’s leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, and is a Non-Executive Director of GPG plc. He is a Non-Executive Director at Serco Group plc, Chairman of Which? Ltd. and was, until recently, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of ITV plc. He has served as Chief Executive Officer of BAA plc, Chairman of HM Revenue & Customs, Operational Managing Director at Terra Firma, and held a number of senior management positions at Procter & Gamble.

Ruth Anderson is currently Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at both Ocado Group plc and Travis Perkins plc, and sits on the Board of GPG’s subsidiary Coats plc. Ruth is a chartered accountant and has spent much of her career at KPMG LLP where she was a member of the UK board for the six years to 2004 and vice chairman for the five years to 2009.

Pensions investigation

As noted in GPG’s recently released 2013 Annual Report and Accounts, the Board and management continue to engage with the UK Pensions Regulator (‘tPR), and to maintain open dialogue with the trustees of the relevant pension schemes. The Board is exploring all options with the aim of resolving these matters as efficiently as possible without compromising shareholder interests. It is still too early to advise shareholders as to the likely outcome and, if the matter is not settled through negotiation, any hearing before tPR’s Determinations Panel will not take place earlier than the second half of this year.

Conclusion of the capital management realisation initiatives and transition has been delayed while the regulatory process continues, and the Board and management continue to work on this aspect with legal advice. The main principles being applied are that the Board will do nothing to adversely impact the regulatory process and ensure that the Coats business has the right strategic direction and corporate governance in place. Any decision on the future capital structure of Coats and further cash distributions to shareholders continues to be deferred while these matters are being resolved.

To view the full stock exchange announcement go to: www.coats.com/resultsandreports

For more information contact:

Anna Mitchell, Head of Group Communications anna.mitchell@coats.com

T: +44 (0)20 8210 5015 M: +44 (0)7740 747976

In New Zealand:
Geoff Senescall senescall@senescallakers.co.nz T: +64 9 309 5659

About Coats

With a rich heritage dating back to the 1750s, Coats is the world's leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, at home in more than 70 countries, employing over 20,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2013 were US$1.7bn.

Our well-known brands and strong relationships with customers and consumers mean our products and services meet current and future needs. Our company-wide understanding of our business partners and consumers, coupled with the deep expertise of our people, builds trust and certainty.

Coats’ pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company continues leading the way around the world: providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; extending the crafts offer into new markets and online; and applying innovative techniques to develop products in new areas such as tracer threads, aramids and fibre optics.

  • One in five garments on the planet is held together using Coats’ thread
  • 100 million car airbags are made using Coats’ thread every year
  • Coats produces enough yarn to knit 70 million scarves a year
  • In three and a half hours, Coats makes enough thread to go to the moon and back
  • 400 million pairs of shoes are made every year using Coats’ thread
  • One million teabags using Coats’ thread are brewed every 10 minutes
  • Thousands of surgical operations take place every day using Coats’ thread
  • Thomas Edison used Coats’ thread in 1879 to invent the light bulb
  • Coats produces enough thread to reach around the Equator every 11 minutes
  • Coats is the second largest and fastest growing global zip manufacturer

To find out more about Coats visit www.coats.com

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