The world’s largest thread and sewing materials company is about to be run by a chief executive with little or no experience of that industry. But the newcomer at Coats, David Paja, was head of the GKN Aerospace arm of Melrose Industries — motto “design, deliver, improve”, a touch more prosaic than Coats’s guidelines, “innovation, sustainability and digital”.
Melrose prides itself on “a relentless focus on profitable, sustainable and cash-generative growth” and, while Coats has not been badly managed, these are likely to be on Paja’s immediate to-do list, rather than choosing this season’s must-have shade of thread.
Although most people rarely think of it in these terms, Coats’s products have for years been a staple of fashionable brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, H&M,
