Our Executive Committee

Steve Foots, Group Chief Executive

Appointment: Appointed to the Board in July 2010 and Group Chief Executive since the beginning of 2012.

Key strengths and experience: Strong business, operational and strategic leadership, wide-ranging sales and marketing experience. Steve joined Croda as a graduate trainee in 1990 and has held a number of senior management positions in the Group, becoming President of Croda Europe in July 2010. Prior to this, Steve held a number of Managing Director roles across Croda’s European business.

External appointments:   Industry co-Chair of the Chemistry Council.

Committee membership: Chairman of the Group Executive and Group Finance Committees, member of Group SHEQ Steering Committees.

Jez Maiden, Group Finance Director

Appointment: Appointed to the Board as Group Finance Director in January 2015.

Key strengths and experience: Extensive experience in financial management, and acquisitions and disposals, and a wealth of experience working in the speciality chemical sector.  Jez was Group Finance Director at National Express Group Plc from 2008 to 2014.  Prior to that, he was Group Finance Director at Northern Foods Plc and he has been Chief Financial Officer at British Vita Plc as well as Group Finance Director at Hickson International Plc, both listed speciality chemical companies.  Former Chairman of the Audit Committee and Senior Independent Director of Synthomer Plc and former Non-Executive Director and Audit and Risk Committee chairman of PZ Cussons Plc.  Jez is a fellow of the CIMA.

Committee membership: Chairman of the Risk Management Committee, member of the Group Executive and Group Finance Committees.

Anthony Fitzpatrick, President Corporate Development

Appointment: Appointed to the Executive Committee in March 2014.

Key strengths and experience: With over 23 years in the global investment banking sector based variously in New York and London, primarily focusing on the chemical industry following his degree in Chemistry, Anthony has extensive insight and transactional experience in strategic mergers and acquisitions and associated financings.  With strong business and leadership skills, he joined Croda in March 2014 having previously worked at Goldman Sachs and UBS, where he was co-Head of Global Chemicals.

Committee membership: Member of the Executive Committee, Investment Committee, Risk Management Committee and Corporate SHEQ Steering Committee.

Tom Brophy, Group General Counsel, Company Secretary and MD Western Europe

Appointment: Appointed as Secretary to the Board in December 2012.

Key strengths and experience: Tom is a solicitor and has responsibility for legal affairs, corporate governance and insurance. Tom also manages our Western European region, with full P&L responsibility. Prior to joining Croda, Tom spent seven years at Wolseley Plc in a number of legal and governance roles, including as Deputy General Counsel and Company Secretary.  Before then he worked as a corporate lawyer at City law firm Hogan Lovells.

Committee membership: Secretary to the Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees, Chairman of the Ethics Committee, member of the Group Executive, Group Finance and Risk Management Committees.

Sandra Breene, President Regional Delivery

Appointment: Appointed to the Executive Committee in February 2012.

Key strengths and experience: Sandra is a well-developed leader of people with an extensive understanding of customer needs and ability to speak their language. This was gained through a technical background and over 30 years’ of 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 also has great insight into emerging markets and cultural differences having lived in Asia leading the regional Sales & Marketing teams. Sandra has a passion for building an engaging and inclusive culture and has managed large global teams. Having worked across many functions she has a strong understanding of business process and how to drive productivity and efficiency.

Committee Membership: Member of the Executive Committee, Risk Management Committee and Corporate SHEQ Steering Committees and Chair of Corporate Communications Steering Group.

Maarten Heybroek, President Consumer Care

Appointment: Appointed to the Executive Committee in February 2012.

Key strengths and experience: Maarten has strong business, operational and strategic leadership skills, with wide-ranging sales and marketing experience having worked and lived in North America, Malaysia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Maarten has a Masters in Chemistry and an MBA, joining Croda through the acquisition of Uniqema where he started his career within the Unichema business in 1992 as a Unilever Graduate Trainee.

Committee membership: Member of the Executive Committee and Risk Management Committee and Corporate SHEQ Steering Committee.

Stuart Arnott, President Sustainability

Appointment: Appointed to the Executive Committee since July 2012.

Key strengths and experience: With a technical background graduating as a Chemical Engineer, Stuart has extensive operational experience at Croda having joined in 1987 as a Graduate Trainee. With wide-ranging managerial expertise and leadership skills gained from being a UK Site Director, then leading European manufacturing teams, President of Global Operations and now as President Sustainability.  Stuart has been responsible for the successful execution of many significant investments across the Croda world.  Stuart now has responsibility for driving all aspects of our sustainability, global procurement and sustainable sourcing agenda.

Committee membership: Member of the Executive Committee and Finance Committee and Trustee Director of the Pension Scheme.

Nick Challoner, President - Life Sciences

Appointment: Appointed to the Executive Committee in April 2012.

Key strengths and experience: With strong strategic leadership skills, Nick has applied his business and operational expertise in a number of senior management positions gaining experience in R&D, technical, marketing, sales and general business management. He has also developed international expertise working in the emerging markets of Latin America and Asia Pacific, where he led all of Croda’s operations across these regions. Nick joined Croda as a graduate trainee in 1993. In September 2020, Nick was appointed to the position of Chief Scientific Officer.

Committee Membership: Member of the Executive Committee, Risk Management Committee and Corporate SHEQ Steering Committee and Executive Sponsor of the Corporate Sustainability Committee.

Tracy Sheedy, Group HR Director

Appointment:  Joined Croda as Group HR Director in June 2016 and appointed to the Executive Committee in November 2019

Key strengths and experience:  Extensive international HR experience in a variety of generalist and organisation development roles mostly within the chemical and manufacturing sectors. Prior to joining Croda Tracy was the Group HR Development Director and Executive Committee Member with Fenner Plc having previously worked for Scapa Plc, BAE Systems, ConvaTec and Monsanto. Tracy is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Committee membership:  Member of the Group Executive and Finance Committee and Ethics Committee.