Posted November 1, 2016

 

UXBRIDGE, U.K. – Coats, one of the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market, announced that Rajiv Sharma, currently executive director and global CEO, Industrial, has been appointed group chief executive, effective Jan. 1, 2017.

 

Current Group Chief Executive Paul Forman will leave Coats December 31 by mutual consent and take up the role of chief executive at Essentra plc, a FTSE 250 company and a leading global provider of essential components and solutions.

 

Sharma joined Coats in November 2010 and is responsible for the global Industrial business, which accounted for approximately 80 percent of group revenues in 2015. Under his leadership, it has built new commercial and operational capabilities to deliver a strong track record of profitable sales growth. It has been at the forefront of product and service innovation for the global apparel and footwear industries and Rajiv has overseen the expansion of the Specialty business into emerging applications such as fiber optic cables and value-added engineered yarns used in composites and conductive products.

 

Sharma was appointed an executive director of Coats in March 2015. Prior to joining Coats he worked at Honeywell, GE and Shell, among others. His experience spans multiple disciplines, including M&A, digital and leading large complex businesses, in a range of industries, across five continents.

 

“I am energized and excited to be taking on this new role,” Sharma said. “Paul is passing me the baton of a company in a market-leading position, holding a strong strategic hand of cards. Superior customer experiences, motivated employees, innovation, digital and technology will be the pillars of our continuing profitable sales journey within a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace. I look forward to guiding Coats through its next positive chapter.”

 

Mike Clasper, chairman, added: “Paul has been working closely with me and the board in order to identify the most appropriate time to step down and prepare for a seamless transition. In light of this Coats has been considering both external and internal candidates and identified Rajiv as the best-suited individual for the role. He has strong leadership skills; a proven track record of running our core Industrial business and increasing its profitability; and has been fully involved in developing our corporate strategy.

 

“The board would like to extend its thanks to Paul for the outstanding contribution that he has made to Coats over the last seven years,” he continued. “Under his stewardship Coats has evolved from being one of many diverse investments of its former holding company, Guinness Peat Group, to re-establishing itself successfully as a standalone listed entity, due in no small part to his trademark energy and dynamism. He has also driven material improvements in financial performance. We wish him every success in the future.’ 

 

Forman became group chief executive of Coats on Dec. 31, 2009. Before joining he 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. He is a non-executive director at Tate & Lyle PLC.

 

Source: Coats