Alan Ferguson

Biography

Key strengths and experience: Extensive international financial management and board experience. Alan was Chief Financial Officer and a Director of Lonmin Plc until December 2010. Prior to that he was Group Finance Director of The BOC Group until 2006. Before then he spent 22 years in a variety of roles at Inchcape plc, including 6 years as Group Finance Director from 1999. Alan is a Chartered Accountant. External appointments: Alan is Senior Independent Director of Johnson Matthey Plc and Non-Executive Director of The Weir Group Plc. He chairs the Audit Committees at both of these companies. Alan is also the Senior Independent Director of Marshall Motor Holdings Plc, an AIM listed company, where he chairs the Audit Committee. Alan sits on the Business Policy Panel of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. 

Research Interest

Established in 1955, Croda Italy was the first subsidiary of Croda International Plc. Croda Italy serves the markets of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. IRB, established in 1999 as a private Biotech start-up company, was acquired in 2012, by Croda. IRB has through the years developed a unique plant cell culture platform to extract active ingredients mainly for cosmetic and health care applications that integrate the Sederma portfolio. The team at Croda Italy are dedicated to continuous improvement. We undertake Croda 1% Club activities within our local community and universities. We are the name behind the high performance ingredients and technologies in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world: creating, making and selling speciality chemicals that are relied on by industries and consumers everywhere. We create, make and sell speciality chemicals that deliver real benefits to a range of diverse products including health and beauty, engine lubricants, plastics and many more. Our business is split into three core market sectors: Personal Care; Life Sciences made up of Crop Care and Health Care and Performance Technologies made up of Coatings and Polymers; Geo Technologies; Home Care; Lubricants and Polymer Additives. We also have an Industrial Chemicals business area. In all areas of our business our focus is on developing and delivering innovative ingredients sustainably.