Surprise departure of St Regis chief executive

The reason for Mr Coates's swift departure has not been disclosed.

No direct replacement for Mr Coates has been made by parent company DS Smith, with instead a new chief operating officer for packaging appointed to oversee the St Regis side of the business.

A spokesman for DS Smith, which has two major activities – packaging and office products, confirmed the departure of Mr Coates.

van Beijeren
He said that in his place newcomer to the company Huub van Beijeren, 51, had been appointed as &#39c;hief operating officer – packaging' and will have responsibility for DS Smith’s UK paper and corrugated packaging segment.

This will see Mr van Beijeren in charge of the St Regis paper business and DS Smith packaging in the UK. In the future, he is expected to take on responsibility for the DS Smith Kaysersberg and DS Smith Plastics divisions.

Since 2001, Mr van Beijeren had been a main board director of British Vita plc, which operated in the plastics and foam sectors of industry. He had responsibility for the cellular polymer and nonwovens divisions.

Further developments in the management structure of the St Regis and Severnside businesses have not been ruled out. A number of senior directors have retired in recent years and an overall management review is possible.

Severnside managing director Peter McGuinness remains in charge of that side of the business.