Louisa Burdett has joined the board at Saith-based Croda International Plc and will take over from Jez Maiden as Group Finance Director on March 13th this year.
Until recently Louisa has been Chief Financial Officer of Meggitt Plc, the global aerospace, defence and energy component manufacturer.
She has over ten years’ experience successfully leading finance functions for UK listed companies. This includes four years as CFO of Meggitt, before it was acquired by Parker-Hannifin in September 2022, and five years as CFO of Victrex, the speciality chemicals company. Before that she held CFO positions with Optos plc, Financial Times Group, GE Healthcare, and CHEP Europe. Louisa is also Non-executive Director and Audit Committee Chair of RS Group Plc, the FTSE 100 distributor of industrial and electronic products. She has a first-class degree in biochemistry from Imperial College London and trained as an accountant before moving into her first in-house role at GSK.
Jez joined Croda in January 2015, and will step down from the Board at the AGM on 26 April and retire from the Company at the end of May.
Anita Frew, Croda Chair, said: “On behalf of the Board and all my Croda colleagues, I would like to thank Jez for his outstanding contribution over the last eight years. He has been instrumental in the development and growth of Croda, always nurturing a culture of transformation. I have hugely appreciated his diligence, intellect and thoughtful approach, particularly his contribution to Board debate, and wish him the very best wishes for the future.
“I am delighted that we have been able to appoint Louisa as Group Finance Director. She has an exceptional ten-year track record as a CFO of listed companies, with valuable experience both in speciality chemicals and the broader manufacturing sector. We look forward to welcoming Louisa to Croda in the New Year.”
