Background to UK Pensions Regulator investigations

During 2013 TPR began investigations into Guinness Peat Group’s (as Coats Group plc was then known) three UK pension schemes. In December of that year TPR issued Warning Notices in respect of the two legacy schemes – Brunel and Staveley – and in December 2014 issued a Warning Notice in respect of the UK Coats Pension Plan. From 2013 onwards, all parties proceeded down a legal process set out by regulations governing TPR’s procedures. During 2015 Coats was renamed Coats Group plc and a number of Director changes were made. In February 2016 Coats initiated settlement discussions with the three sets of trustees and committed to retain the entire parent group cash balance within the Group to support the schemes. This cash balance is the net proceeds generated from Guinness Peat Group’s asset realisation programme between 2011-2013 when it sold its share in approximately 50 businesses leaving Coats as the only remaining operating business.

About Coats

Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market. At home in more than 60 countries, Coats employs 19,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2015 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 and fibre optics; and extending the crafts offer into new markets and online.

Headquartered in the UK, Coats has a premium listing 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
• We’re experts in colour, last year we dyed thread and yarn in more than 150,000 different colours for our customers
• Our Red Heart knitting and crochet yarn brand has been named ‘America’s Most Recommended’ by the Women’s Choice Award
• 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