Coats backs Paisley bid to become UK City of Culture 2021
- 03 Mar 2017
Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market, is backing Paisley’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2021. Paisley is bidding for the title as part of its wider plans to transform its future using its heritage and cultural assets.
Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, Coats, said: ‘Coats is very proud of its heritage and Paisley is where it all began. This bid will help transform the future of Paisley by bringing much needed regeneration and opportunities that will give the town the civic pride it rightly deserves once more.’
Coats has strong links with Paisley as its origins can be traced back to the Coats and Clark families that created the weaving and textile industries there during the 1750s. It still retains a presence in the town today through its global Colour Systems Team, which is based in the Mile End Mill building. The team is an integral part of the global business and leads the development of cutting edge colour management technology which drives best practice and productivity improvements across Coats’ 45 thread dyehouse operations around the world.
In the 1880s Paisley was one of the fastest growing towns in the UK and over 10% of its 60,000 population were employed by the Coats or Clark firms, which came together in the 1890s to form Coats.
The families were major benefactors to the town of Paisley including iconic buildings such as the Coats Observatory, one of only three remaining public observatories in Scotland, and the A listed cast iron Grand Fountain, recently restored to its former glory.
They also funded the building of Paisley Museum and bequeathed many items which remain in the town’s collections. Renfrewshire Council last year revealed plans for a £49m revamp of the museum to turn it into an international-class heritage attraction by 2022.
Paisley 2021 Bid Director, Jean Cameron said: ‘We are thrilled to have one of Paisley’s most famous names on board for the bid. Paisley’s name is known around the world for the role it played in shaping the global textile industry. But as much as Paisley made textiles, textiles also made Paisley.
‘The legacy left by the Coats and Clarks is all around us in the town today in our buildings and in our people – and that legacy will feature strongly in our bid when it is lodged in April.’
The UK City of Culture competition is run by the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport and bids are due to be lodged in April.
To find out more about Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 go to: http://www.paisley2021.co.uk
ENDS
For more information and to request a photo of Anne Fahy contact:
Kristina Blissett, Head of Communications kristina.blissett@coats.com
T +44 (0)208 210 5084, M +44 (0)7714 539887
Notes to Editors
About Paisley 2021
Paisley's bid for UK City of Culture 2021 will use the town's unique and fascinating story to transform its future—by putting the town in the international spotlight, attracting visitors, creating jobs and using culture to make people's lives better.
The one-time global textile hub and birthplace of the Paisley Pattern is also home to stunning architecture, an internationally-significant museum collection, Glasgow Airport, University of the West of Scotland, West College Scotland, PACE Theatre Company and a thriving contemporary cultural scene.
The UK City of Culture competition is run by the UK Government. The shortlisted cities will be announced in summer 2017, and the winner at the end of the year. Find out more at www.paisley2021.co.uk
About Coats
Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market. At home in some 60 countries, Coats employs 19,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2016 were US$1.5bn.
Coats’ pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company leads the way around the world: providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; applying innovative techniques to develop high technology Performance Materials threads and yarns in areas such as automotive, composites and fibre optics; and extending the crafts offer into new markets and online.
Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a FTSE 250 listed company on the London Stock Exchange.
- Each year we make enough thread to go into 8 billion pairs of jeans - that’s one for every person on the planet
- Every month Coats produces enough thread to stretch all the way to the sun
- More than 450 million pairs of shoes are made every year using Coats’ thread
- More than 100 million car airbags are made using Coats’ Performance Materials thread every year
- In 1879 Thomas Edison used Coats’ thread in his experiments to invent the light bulb
- Our Red Heart knitting and crochet yarn brand has been named ‘America’s Most Recommended’ by the Women’s Choice Award for three years running
- Our flame retardant Performance Materials threads can withstand temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius
- Coats is the second largest supplier of zips to global brands