Directorate Change

16 November 2017

Coats Group plc

Appointment of Non-Executive Director

Coats Group plc ('Coats' or the 'Company'), the world's leading industrial thread manufacturer, announces that Hongyan Echo Lu ('Echo') will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director, effective 1 December 2017. In addition, she will join the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination Committee.

Echo has twenty years of global HR, operations and general management experience. She spent ten years at Tesco plc in a variety of senior leadership roles, including Asia HR Director, Chief Operations Officer, China and Property Director, UK/Ireland. Most recently, she was the Managing Director of Homebase Ltd as part of Home Retail Group plc. She started her career at Bristol-Myers Squibb, a global biopharmaceutical company. Echo has a Bachelor of Arts in International Economy and Finance from Fudan University, Shanghai and a Master of Science in Industrial Relations and Human Resources from West Virginia University.

Echo has previously been a Non-Executive Director of Dobbies Garden Centres and also served as a Steering Committee Member of the Trestle Group Foundation, a non-profit organisation which supports women-led businesses in emerging economies.

Mike Clasper, Chairman, said: 'I am delighted that Echo has agreed to join the Coats Board. Echo's direct managerial experience of global companies operating in markets in Asia, particularly North East Asia, will bring very pertinent additional local and regional insight. She also has practical knowledge of empowering women entrepreneurs in emerging economies which will bring invaluable perspective to the Board.'

No further information is required to be disclosed pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.13.

Enquiry details

UK media Richard Mountain / Nick Hasell +44 (0)20 3727 1374

Investors Rob Mann +44 (0)20 8210 5175

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation.

About Coats Group plc

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 over 19,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2016 were US$1.5bn. Coats' pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company continues leading 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 Material 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 FTSE250 listed company on the London Stock Exchange. To find out more about Coats visit www.coats.com.