Group Chief Executive, Croda
Search every verified Steve Foots interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Steve Foots, Group Chief Executive of Croda International, received an honorary degree from the University of York in July 2025. During the ceremony, he was recognized for his leadership in the chemical and life sciences industries and his appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours. In his address, Foots described sustainability as a key priority, stating that "great companies need to be leaders in sustainability" and that Croda aims to reduce its carbon footprint for both customers and suppliers. He also advised graduates to "grab every opportunity you can, be curious, be bold." Foots has repeatedly emphasized the importance of integrating sustainability into business strategy. In a 2021 podcast, he said that "the non-financial performance is just as important if not more important than the financial performance" and described sustainability as "an investment not a cost." He has also spoken about fostering innovation and entrepreneurial thinking within Croda, including the creation of "entrepreneurial cells" to pursue more disruptive projects. Foots noted that the company has adopted a "stretch plan" to set more ambitious goals, which he described as a "North Star" for the organization.
“Great companies need to be leaders in sustainability. We're facing a huge climate crisis and it's incumbent on all of us and I mean all of us in the room to do the right things by doing good. And as we look to transition from coal and gas to renewable energy or from petrol to electric cars, what's the organization that...”
“Great companies of the future need to be entrepreneurial as well. And that's really important and that's my second piece of advice and um you know progressive organizations many years ago I use this example in Croa for innovation NASA space organization in America spent a huge amount of resources to try and invent a sp...”
“sustainability is an investment not a cost and our industry has a huge responsibility to increase the positive impacts of our actions whilst reducing the negative impacts and it doesn't really matter where you start from in our industry you could be in petrochemicals you could be in diversified chemicals you could be i...”
“the next decade is polarizing around sustainability and you know the modern company and the modern leadership around those companies have to really get that the non-financial performance is just as important if not more important than the financial performance and they're not mutually exclusive”
“We've always run with a three year plan and what we're trying to do now is stretch that plan so we've got a more ambitious plan... what Steve's brought to us is the stretch plan we heat calls of the north star we call it the North Star but he's given us ambition that we didn't have before.”
“One spine of the stretch plan and entrepreneurial cells to us are taking bigger bets so if we look at our research and development you know we've got a good innovation model but our innovation tends to be iterative innovation small small little bets small projects but lots of them we're still doing that but what we try...”
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