Strategy and Analysis

Chief Executive’s Statement

We began 2020 with our usual optimism and confidence, not anticipating the events that were about to unfold and touch every one of us. It quickly became clear how the COVID-19 pandemic was rapidly going to change our lives and challenge many aspects of day-to-day business.

Confidence in Our Purpose

2020 has exemplified the resilience of our business model as well as confidence in, and commitment to, our Purpose. Our priorities have been to protect the health and safety of our employees and balance the needs of all our stakeholders fairly. We have not furloughed employees, reduced pay or utilised government liquidity facilities. All but two of our 19 principal manufacturing sites operated without material disruption throughout the pandemic and raw material supply chains remained secure. We have supported our customers and suppliers, given financial assistance to the communities close to our sites, and maintained our track record of paying regular dividends to shareholders. Through our actions, we aim to live up to our Purpose of using Smart science to improve livesTM.

Confidence in Our People

Our people and our culture truly define our sustainability. Throughout the year I saw, first-hand, the resilience and commitment of all our colleagues working from home and the continued engagement with customers and suppliers. Our global research and development (R&D) network adapted to changing working conditions to maintain our ongoing research and innovation. I would like to pay tribute to all our colleagues in operations maintaining our production and ensuring continued supply of the thousands of ingredients to all the industries we serve. We prioritised manufacture and supply of our ingredients into the many supply chains that contribute to combating COVID-19, from sanitisers to PPE and, crucially, our supply of novel excipients used in the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, playing a critical role in solving the biggest health emergency facing society today. 

Reinforcing confidence in Our Commitment

2020 has reinforced our Commitment to be the most sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients; to create, make and sell solutions to tackle some of the biggest challenges the world is facing. I am very proud of Croda’s involvement in the battle to fight the most significant pandemic that we have seen in a generation. The application of our innovative capabilities is testament to the strong progress we have made towards creating industry-leading drug delivery systems, focused on developing speciality excipients and adjuvants to improve the effectiveness and stability of complex drug actives and vaccines. It is another example of why our Purpose, Smart science to improve livesTM, sits at the heart of our strategy and will continue to drive our priorities and ambitions in the years ahead. In setting out our 2030 ambition to be Climate, Land and People Positive we now publish interim goals against which we shall measure progress in our Company-wide commitment in delivering positive impact.

Confidence in our sustainable future

Our acquisition of Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc. around whose expertise we have built our contribution to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, confirms our commitments to health and wellbeing and building a broad drug delivery business on a global scale. Acquiring Iberchem, a global fragrances and Flavours business significantly broadens and strengthens our footprint in Consumer Care and importantly aligns with our Purpose, taking us into new areas and opportunities where we can use smart science to improve peoples’ lives. We end 2020 with even greater optimism and confidence and, above all, collective pride in our business, our Purpose and Commitment to continue to make a positive impact. I would like to thank everyone across the Group for their ambition and commitment to leadership in sustainability.

Steve Foots, Group Chief Executive

To continuously improve we must establish clear commitments and performance targets aligned to our material areas and their longer-term objectives. We define material areas as topics or issues with the potential to affect the long-term success of our business, including the economies, environments and societies in which we operate. Targets have been set with our Group Executive Committee that support our sustainability strategy and ensure that progress is made in addressing our material areas.