The Coats Viyella Pension Plan commenced on 1 January 1988 following the merger of 3 major UK textile companies in 1986 - Coats Patons plc, Vantona Viyella plc and the Nottingham Manufacturing Company plc. When introduced, the Plan was open to the majority of employees of the newly formed Coats Viyella plc (the main exclusions being part-timers and temporary workers).

Before 1988, pension arrangements for the different groups of companies varied substantially. The introduction of the Coats Viyella Pension Plan meant that those employees eligible to join were all entitled to the same level of benefit. Members of any previous arrangements were given a 'guarantee' that when benefits became payable from the Plan, those benefits would be no less than their benefit entitlement if their old scheme had continued in force.

Since 1988, other major companies have been brought into the Group - Tootal, Corah, Atkins, Barbour Threads to name but a few. The pension schemes of those companies were brought into the Plan and their members were given guarantees which depended on the individual funds, but at the least there was a 'no worse-off guarantee' for past service. As of 1 January 2002 and following the sale of the Viyella business, the Plan became known as the Coats Pension Plan. The Trustee of the Plan is responsible for investing its assets, and since 1999, the investment policy has shifted from 100% in higher risk equities, to the present split of around 30% in equities and 70% in bonds or similar lower risk asset classes. This change reflects the rapidly maturing membership profile of the Plan and is in line with our priority of providing a high degree of security for the payment of benefits to Plan members. In today's pensions climate, where a high number of UK pension schemes are closing their doors to new members and/or shifting from a Final Salary to a Defined Contributions scheme, the Coats Pension Plan has maintained a growth rate on par with some of the best pension schemes in the country. In spite of the uncertainty of the stock market over recent years, the Plan remains healthy and according to our last actuarial valuation, in the normal course of events, the Plan has sufficient funding to meet its financial obligations as they become due.

For those interested in seeing the full Statement of Investment Principles, this is available from the Forms & Factsheets section of our website.

For information about the scheme history of Coats, please click here. Please note you will need to be able to view PDF files to read this document. Please click on our Useful Downloads section for more information.