
Our leadership
Our Board is well equipped to provide oversight and challenge to the Executive Team, with the breadth of skills, experience and diversity to lead Croda in delivering our priorities.
Board of Directors
We have a Board that is well equipped to provide oversight and challenge to the Executive Team and has the breadth of skills, experience and diversity to lead Croda in delivering our ambitious strategic priorities that will deliver long-term growth.
We are making good progress on our gender balance targets with a continued increase in women in leadership positions and full gender parity on the Board since February 2022.
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Danuta Gray
ChairAppointment: appointed to the Board in February 2024.
Danuta is a highly experienced Non-Executive Director and Chair with a strong understanding of consumers, technology, sales and marketing within the UK and international business markets gained through her executive career. She was previously Chair of Direct Line Insurance Group Plc, St Modwen Properties plc, Senior Independent Director and Interim Chair at Aldemore Bank plc, a Non-Executive member of the Ministry of Defence Board, Paddy Power Betfair plc, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at PageGroup plc and Old Mutual plc. Danuta’s wealth of plc board experience and a deep understanding of UK governance requirements make her a strong asset to the Croda Board. Her broad knowledge and experience across a range of sectors is invaluable to the Board and the Group as a whole.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at Burberry Group plc; member of the Board of Trustees of the Resolution Foundation and Employ Autism.
Committee membership: Chair of the Nomination Committee
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Steve Foots, CBE
Group Chief ExecutiveAppointment: appointed to the Board in July 2010, Group Chief Executive since 2012
Steve joined Croda as a graduate trainee in 1990 and has held a number of senior management positions, enabling him to bring a business, strategic and operational background to the Croda Board. In July 2010, Steve became President of Croda Europe. Having spent several years leading different Croda businesses, he has extensive insight into the markets we serve, the importance of customer focus and innovation, and the power of a values-led culture. Steve was awarded a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2025 for his outstanding contribution to the chemical and life sciences industries.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director at Tate & Lyle PLC and Industry co-Chair of the Chemistry CouncilCommittee membership: Chair of the Executive and Finance Committees, member of Group SHEQ Committee.
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Stephen Oxley
Chief Financial OfficerAppointment: appointed to the Board in April 2025
Stephen brings valuable experience in strategy setting and execution, enhancing business performance, transformation and corporate transactions. He has significant experience working with companies going through major change programmes as well as operational and technical expertise. He was previously a partner at KPMG where he spent nearly 30 years advising global companies across consumer, healthcare and industrial sectors.
Committee membership: Chair of the Finance Committee. Member of the Executive, Sustainability and Group SHEQ Committees.
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Jacqui Ferguson
Senior Independent Non-Executive DirectorAppointment: appointed to the Board as Non-Executive Director in September 2018
Jacqui is an experienced CEO from the technology industry with general management and M&A experience in international and emerging markets. She has first-hand insight of transformational/disruptive digital, cyber security, technology and business process solutions. Jacqui is the former CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services UK, Ireland, Middle East Mediterranean and Africa. She was also Chief of Staff at Hewlett Packard working with the Chairman and CEO focused on a new company strategy and turnaround, and chaired the public services strategy board for the CBI. Jacqui has also worked for Electronic Data Systems, acquired by HP in 2008, and KPMG. Jacqui was previously a Non-Executive Director and Chair at Tesco Bank.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director of National Grid plc and Softcat plc; Trustee of Engineering UK; member of the Scottish First Ministers Advisory Board for Women and Girls.
Committee membership: Chair of the Remuneration Committee, member of Audit, Nomination and Board Sustainability Oversight Committees.
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Keith Layden
Non-Executive DirectorAppointment: appointed to the Board in 2012, Non-Executive Director since May 2017
With a deep understanding of chemical innovation and broad operational and management experience, Keith joined Croda in 1984 and was appointed to the Board as Chief Technology Officer in 2012. Until January 2016 he was responsible for the Technology Investment Group. Until his retirement from Croda in April 2017, Keith was responsible for global R&D and was President Life Sciences.
External appointments: Honorary Professor of Chemistry and Industry at the University of Nottingham where he is also Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board for chemistry; at the University of Sheffield he is a member of Council, a Representative of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Health and Safety Committee and Alumni Board; Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and member of its Industry and Technology Division Council
Committee membership: Member of Nomination and Board Sustainability Oversight Committees.
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Roberto Cirillo
Non-Executive DirectorAppointment: appointed to the Board as Non-Executive Director in April 2018
Roberto has 10 years’ experience as a country and group CEO in service and health care industries, and many years as a strategy practitioner in Europe and Asia. He brings a passion for growth and operations and can share lessons learned from large transformations and M&A. Roberto’s engineering background means he can link Croda’s R&D and production competence with the evolving demands of multifunctional markets. Until March 2025, Roberto was CEO of Swiss Post and he was previously CEO of Optegra International Limited. Before that, he spent seven years at Sodexo in a variety of roles, including Group COO and Country CEO of its French business. Roberto has also been a consultant for McKinsey & Company.
Committee membership: Member of Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees. -
Tom Brophy
Group General Counsel, Company Secretary and President SustainabilityAppointment: appointed as Secretary to the Board in December 2012
Tom is an experienced corporate lawyer, having worked at City law firm Hogan Lovells and FTSE 100 company Ferguson. His expertise in public and private acquisitions supports Croda’s growth plans and his professional background and breadth of experience in insurance, risk and compliance enable him to Chair the Ethics Committee. Tom also provides corporate governance know-how. Prior to joining Croda, he spent seven years at Wolseley Plc in legal and governance roles, including Deputy General Counsel and Company Secretary.
Committee membership: Secretary to the Board and the Audit, Remuneration, Nomination and Board Sustainability Oversight Committees. Member of the Executive, Finance, Sustainability and Group SHEQ Committees. -
Nawal Ouzren
Non-Executive DirectorAppointment: appointed to the Board as Non-Executive Director in February 2022
Nawal has 20 years of expertise across a wide range of business roles, including clinical development, operational and strategic management roles within the pharmaceutical industry. Nawal currently serves as CEO at Sensorion, a Euronext listed biopharmaceutical company headquartered in France.
A chemical engineer by training, Nawal started her career at GE in operations management, manufacturing and quality and then held executive roles at Baxter International, Baxalta and Shire before joining Sensorion in 2017.
Nawal brings with her first-hand experience in biologics and novel gene therapies and up until March 2022 was a non-executive director of Arena Pharmaceuticals, the US headquartered biopharmaceutical company.External appointments: CEO at Sensorion, a Euronext listed biopharmaceutical company headquartered in France.
Committee membership: Member of Audit, Remuneration, Nomination and Board Sustainability Oversight Committees.
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Chris Good
Non-Executive DirectorAppointment: appointed to the Board as Non-Executive Director in April 2023.
Chris has spent his career in the Consumer Care industry. He recently retired following more than 20 years at Estee Lauder Companies, a global leader in prestige beauty, with the last five years of his executive career as Group President of North America (Estee Lauder Companies’ home market) with responsibility for over 25 brands. Chris was also a member of Estee Lauder Companies’ Executive Committee.
Prior to joining Estee Lauder Companies, Chris spent over 10 years at Unilever in senior marketing, executive and general management roles across Europe, North America and Asia.
Chris’ deep understanding of the Consumer Care industry and in particular his insights into beauty care markets and consumers will be of great value to Croda and the Board. As well as having significant P&L experience, Chris also brings a truly international perspective to the Board, having lived and worked in the USA, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Russia and the UK with region wide responsibilities for EMEA, APAC and North America during his successful executive career.
His appointment strengthens the Consumer Care knowledge and experience we have around the Board table, which will support our continued transition to a Consumer Care and Life Sciences business.External appointments: Chair of the Supervisory Board of Rituals Cosmetics Enterprise B.V.
Committee membership: Chair of the Board Sustainability Oversight Committee, member of Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees.
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Ian Bull
Non-Executive DirectorAppointment: appointed to the Board as Non-Executive Director in June 2024.
Ian has extensive experience with listed companies across a wide range of industries, both domestic and international, both as an Executive Director as well as Senior Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair. He was previously Group Finance Director of Greene King plc, Chief Financial Officer at Ladbrokes plc, and was most recently Chief Financial Officer of Parkdean Resorts Group. Ian was formerly a non-executive Director of Paypoint Ltd, Chair of Lookers plc and Senior Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair of St. Modwen Properties plc. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
External appointments: Chair of Domino's Pizza Group Plc and Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair of Dunelm Group plc.
Committee membership: Chair of Audit and member of Nomination and Remuneration Committees.
Executive Committee
Our Executive Committee bring depth and diverse experience. As a group, they are responsible for: developing and implementing strategy, operational plans, policies, procedures and budgets; monitoring operational and financial performance; assessing and controlling risk; and prioritising and allocating resources.
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Steve Foots, CBE
Group Chief ExecutiveAppointment: appointed to the Board in July 2010, Group Chief Executive since 2012
Steve joined Croda as a graduate trainee in 1990 and has held a number of senior management positions, enabling him to bring a business, strategic and operational background to the Croda Board. In July 2010, Steve became President of Croda Europe. Having spent several years leading different Croda businesses, he has extensive insight into the markets we serve, the importance of customer focus and innovation, and the power of a values-led culture. Steve was awarded a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2025 for his outstanding contribution to the chemical and life sciences industries.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director at Tate & Lyle PLC and Industry co-Chair of the Chemistry CouncilCommittee membership: Chair of the Executive and Finance Committees, member of Group SHEQ Committee.
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Stephen Oxley
Chief Financial OfficerAppointment: appointed to the Board in April 2025
Stephen brings valuable experience in strategy setting and execution, enhancing business performance, transformation and corporate transactions. He has significant experience working with companies going through major change programmes as well as operational and technical expertise. He was previously a partner at KPMG where he spent nearly 30 years advising global companies across consumer, healthcare and industrial sectors.
Committee membership: Chair of the Finance Committee. Member of the Executive, Sustainability and Group SHEQ Committees.
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Sandra Breene
President Consumer CareAppointment: appointed to the Executive Committee in February 2012
Sandra is a well-developed leader with an extensive understanding of customer needs and ability to speak their language. This was gained through a technical background and more than 30 years’ experience working across all of Croda’s market sectors, having joined as a graduate trainee. With a strong commercial acumen applied during a number of acquisitions, Sandra brings insight into emerging markets and cultural differences having lived in Asia and leading regional sales and marketing teams. She has a passion for building an engaging and inclusive culture, a strong understanding of business process and how to drive productivity and efficiency.
Committee membership: member of the Executive, Finance, Sustainability and Group SHEQ Committees -
Thomas Riermeier
President Life SciencesAppointment: appointed to the Executive Committee April 2025
Thomas is a seasoned professional with extensive global leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. From March 2020 to June 2024, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Evonik’s Health Care business line, overseeing a global organisation with ten production sites and a global network of applications service laboratories. His responsibility included the business of pharmaceutical excipients, advanced drug delivery technologies including drug products and active pharmaceutical ingredients. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the Technical University of Munich and an MBA from Aston University.
Committee membership: Member of the Executive, Finance, Sustainability and Group SHEQ Committees.
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Anthony Fitzpatrick
President Strategy, Corporate Development and Industrial SpecialtiesAppointment: appointed to the Executive Committee in March 2014
Anthony joined Croda and the Executive Committee in 2014 and so has a deep understanding of our company having previously been President Latin America and most recently President Performance Technologies & Industrial Chemicals.
With more than 23 years in global investment banking in both New York and London, primarily focusing on the chemicals industry following a degree in Chemistry, Anthony has extensive insight and transactional experience in strategic mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate financings. With strong business and leadership skills, he previously worked at both Goldman Sachs and UBS in both London and New York, where he was Global Head of Chemicals.
Anthony has responsibility for Croda’s Group strategy and leading our integrated strategic planning processes. In addition Anthony also has global responsibility for Croda’s Corporate Development and Industrial Specialties activities.
Committee membership: Member of the Executive, Sustainability, Group SHEQ, and Finance Committees.
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Tom Brophy
Group General Counsel, Company Secretary and President SustainabilityAppointment: appointed as Secretary to the Board in December 2012
Tom is an experienced corporate lawyer, having worked at City law firm Hogan Lovells and FTSE 100 company Ferguson. His expertise in public and private acquisitions supports Croda’s growth plans and his professional background and breadth of experience in insurance, risk and compliance enable him to Chair the Ethics Committee. Tom also provides corporate governance know-how. Prior to joining Croda, he spent seven years at Wolseley Plc in legal and governance roles, including Deputy General Counsel and Company Secretary.
Committee membership: Secretary to the Board and the Audit, Remuneration, Nomination and Board Sustainability Oversight Committees. Member of the Executive, Finance, Sustainability and Group SHEQ Committees. -
Thiru Selvan
President - Supply Chain OperationsAppointment: appointed to the Executive Committee July 2025
Thiru is an accomplished operations leader. At Croda, he leads Global Supply Chain Operations, ensuring stable, high-performing delivery while enabling long-term, sustainable growth. He holds global responsibility for SHE, QA, PSRA, Supply Chain , Procurement, Process Innovation and Decarbonisation. He will also champion the operational excellence agenda. Thiru brings a wealth of experience in building agile, customer-centric supply networks and leading diverse, cross-functional teams. Prior to Croda, he spent over 22 years at IFF Inc., most recently as Director of Manufacturing & Supply Chain Operations for EAME. He holds Master degrees in Chemistry and Business Administration.
Committee membership: Chair of Group SHEQ Committee. Member of the Executive, Finance and Sustainability Committees.
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Michelle Lydon
President Human ResourcesAppointment: appointed to the Executive Committee in January 2023
Michelle is a seasoned HR professional with extensive experience serving as Chief People Officer for various renowned, international companies and has held the position of President for Human Resources at Croda International since January 2023. Prior to this Michelle was Chief People Officer for British Airways and before that QinetiQ. She holds a Master's degree in Employment Studies and HR Management and was a trustee at a leading national charity for community integration.
Committee membership: Member of the Executive, Finance, Sustainability and Group SHEQ Committees.