Our leadership

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 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 will be invaluable to the Board and the Group as a whole.

External appointments: Chair of Direct Line Insurance Group Plc; Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at Burberry Group plc; member of the Board of Trustees of the Resolution Foundation; supporter of Employ Autism.

Committee membership: Chair of the Nomination Committee

View Danuta's letter of appointment here.

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.

External appointments: Industry co-Chair of the Chemistry Council

Committee membership: Chair of Executive and Performance and Investment  Committees, member of Group SHEQ Committee.

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.

View Jacqui's letter of appointment here.

A chartered accountant, John has more than 30 years’ international finance experience with Life Sciences businesses including ICI, AstraZeneca and Syngenta. He was Non-Executive Director and Audit Chair of G4S plc until April 2021. He also brings skills and knowledge in emerging markets gained through a decade living and working in Asia and his work in Latin America. John has a keen interest in continuing to build Croda’s strong culture to deliver superior business performance. His extensive experience as an Audit Committee Chair complements and enhances existing Board expertise.

External appointments: Non-Executive Director of DSM-Firmenich AG,  Babcock International Group PLC and RHI Magnesita N.V.; Audit Committee Chair at each of these companies.

Committee membership:  Member of the Audit Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committees.

View John's letter of appointment here.

Julie has nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, with more than 15 years in international leadership positions. She is currently President US Business Unit and US Country Head at Takeda Pharmaceutical, a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, having previously held the position of President, Plasma-Derived Therapies at Takeda. She brings extensive experience from both global and regional roles in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Her previous executive positions include Head of International Market Access and Global Franchise Head of multiple therapeutic areas at Shire, Baxalta and Baxter. Experience in P&L, commercial, R&D and manufacturing mean she is ideally placed to help deliver Croda’s ambition in the fast-growing markets of drug, vaccine and crop delivery systems.

External appointments: President, US Business Unit and US Country Head at Takeda Pharmaceutical. Julie also sits on the industry board for the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association.

Committee membership: Member of Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees.

View Julie's letter of appointment here.

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.

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. In April 2019, Roberto was appointed CEO of Swiss Post. Until February 2018 he was 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.

External appointments: CEO of Swiss Post, national postal service of Switzerland

Committee membership: Member of Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees.

View Roberto's letter of appointment here.

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 Audit, Remuneration, Nomination and Board Sustainability Oversight Committees. Member of Executive, Performance and Investment, Sustainability, Group SHEQ and Group Risk Committees.

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.

View Nawal's letter of appointment here.

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 pure play Consumer Care and Life Sciences business.

Committee membership: Chair of the Board Sustainability Oversight Committee, member of Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees.

View Chris’ letter of appointment here.

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: Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair of Dunelm Group plc and Senior Independent Director of Domino’s Pizza Group Plc.


Committee membership:  Chair of Audit Committee and member of Nomination and Remuneration Committees.

View Ian's letter of appointment here.

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.

External appointments: Industry co-Chair of the Chemistry Council

Committee membership: Chair of Executive and Performance and Investment  Committees, member of Group SHEQ Committee.

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, Grading and Group SHEQ Committees and Digital Advisory Group

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 Audit, Remuneration, Nomination and Board Sustainability Oversight Committees. Member of Executive, Performance and Investment, Sustainability, Group SHEQ and Group Risk Committees.

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, Ethics and Group SHEQ Committees and Chair of Group Risk and Performance and Investment Committees.

Mark has wide operations experience at Croda, joining in 1994 as a graduate Chemical Engineer. He also has extensive managerial and leadership skills gained from being Site Director of two sites, leading European Operational teams and as Global Operations President. Mark has been responsible for the successful execution of investment and change programmes in the European region and globally.

Committee membership: Chair of the Group SHEQ Committee, member of the Executive, Sustainability, Performance and Investment and Group Risk Committees.

Dave has a broad experience within Croda, having joined as a graduate trainee in 1994 with a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He has led businesses in Pharma, Crop and Industrial sectors, driving growth and ensuring development and execution of strategy to meet market needs. Dave has had responsibility for manufacturing sites and overseas sales offices and is currently a Trustee of the Croda Pension Scheme.

Committee membership: Member of the Executive, Performance and Investment, Sustainability, Group SHEQ and Group Risk Committees.

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 2003. 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, Performance and Investment, Sustainability, Group SHEQ and Group Risk Committees.