Coats Group plc is a British multi-national company. It is the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of

sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fab ...

thread Thread may refer to: Objects * Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing ** Thread (unit of measurement), a cotton yarn measure * Screw thread, a helical ridge on a cylindrical fastener Arts and entertainment * ''Thread'' (film), 2016 ...

and supplies, and the second-largest manufacturer of zips and fasteners, after YKK. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

Ferguslie Thread Mills, Paisley, Scotland - geograph

In 1755 James and Patrick Clark began a loom equipment and

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

thread business in

Paisley, Scotland Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Water ...

. In 1806 Patrick Clark invented a way of twisting

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

together to substitute for silk that was unavailable due to the French

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which ar ...

of Great Britain. He opened the first plant for manufacturing the cotton thread in 1812. In 1864 the Clark family began manufacturing in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, U.S., as the Clark Thread Co. In 1802 James Coats set up a

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudin ...

business, also in Paisley. In 1826 he opened a cotton mill at Ferguslie to produce his own thread and, when he retired in 1830, his sons, James & Peter, took up the business under the name of J. & P. Coats. The firm expanded internationally, particularly to the United States. In 1890 Coats listed on the London Stock Exchange, with capital of £5.7 million. In 1896 J. and P. Coats acquired controlling interests in the firms of Clark and Co, Jonas Brook and Brothers and James Chadwick and Brother. In 1952 J. & P. Coats and the Clark Thread Co. merged to become Coats & Clark's. In 1961 a merger with Patons and Baldwins created Coats Patons. In 1986 a merger with Vantona Viyella created Coats Viyella. In 2003 Guinness Peat took Coats private and in 2015 the business returned to the market as "Coats Group".

Controversy

In 2007 Coats was fined €110 million by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

for participation in

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mo ...

s with Prym, YKK and other companies to fix and manipulate the prices of zips and other fasteners, and of the machinery to make them. One of the cartels ran for twenty-one years. An appeal in 2012 to the General Court of the European Union was dismissed, and the fine upheld.Aoife White (27 June 2012)
Coats and YKK Lose EU Court Challenges Over Antitrust Fines
Bloomberg. Accessed March 2015.Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 27 June 2012. Coats Holdings Ltd v European Commission. Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Markets for zip fasteners and ‘other fasteners’ – Decision finding an infringement of Article 81 EC – Coordinated price increases, fixing of minimum prices, customer-sharing, market-sharing and exchange of other commercial information – Evidence – Single and continuous infringement – Limitation period – Rights of the defence – Fines – Guidelines. Case T-439/07
Accessed March 2015.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coats Plc 1755 establishments in England 1755 establishments in Scotland British companies established in 1755 Companies based in the London Borough of Hillingdon Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Manufacturing companies established in 1755 Manufacturing companies of Scotland Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Scottish brands Textile manufacturers of Scotland

History

Controversy

References

Further reading

External links