Coats appoints President, Business Operations
- 14 Jun 2018
Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market, has appointed Kevin Finn to the newly created role of President, Business Operations with effect from 1 July.
Kevin is currently Coats’ Chief Operating Officer, Asia, and is based in Shenzhen, China.
Kevin will have global accountability for business operations and will oversee the delivery of the annual business plan. His responsibilities include driving superior levels of customer service as well as ensuring the company’s manufacturing consistently complies with its high standards of product quality and Health and Safety. Kevin’s direct reports include the MDs of seven geographic clusters: EMEA, Bangladesh, China, India, LatAm North, LatAm South and Vietnam.
Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, Coats, said: ‘Kevin is ideally placed for this new important global role. During his career at Coats he has held leadership roles in many countries across manufacturing, supply chain and commercial and, most recently, has been successfully leading our business in Asia. He has extensive experience and also demonstrates energy and drive for change.’
Kevin has over 30 years’ experience working at Coats. As Chief Operating Officer, Asia, he was responsible for ensuring a safe, respectful and inclusive working environment and sound internal controls across the region. Other previous roles include: Managing Director, China; and Managing Director, CEE and Turkey. Kevin holds an MBA from the Open Business School.
The role of President, Business Operations, has been created as part of the new Coats operating model launched in April, which has simplification as a key lever for growth. This includes simplifying the senior management structure and the new position replaces the previously separate roles of Chief Operating Officer, EMEA and LatAm and Chief Operating Officer, Asia.
Kevin will continue to report to Rajiv Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, and remain a member of the Group Executive Team. He will be based in the UK.
ENDS
For more information 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 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 2017 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. It is the Official Thread Supplier to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
- 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