Keith DuPont has been appointed new President, Performance Materials at Coats. The Performance Materials business includes hi-tech end uses such as automotive, composites, fiber optics, flame retardant and engineered performance fabrics and knits.

Du Pont will be responsible for delivering the overall strategy for Performance Materials, including operational and commercial activities, meeting sales and organic growth targets as well as developing talent. He has over 25 years’ experience of manufacturing and commercial leadership across the metals, plastics and chemical sectors.

He also held several strategic sales and marketing roles at SABIC, a global leader in specialty plastics, focused on identifying and developing new product innovations for the automotive, electronics and specialty materials markets. He is a mechanical engineer. He has the required skills, expertise and mindset to accelerate profitable sales growth in Performance Materials.

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. In 2017 Coats’ revenue grew by four per cent, driven by apparel and footwear (up five per cent) and Performance Materials (up 12 per cent). Adjusted operating profit was up 11 per cent. Group operating margin was up 11.5 per cent.