Our Board

Nationality: British

Position and date of appointment
Chair of the Board, and of the Nomination and the Disclosure Committees. Caroline joined the Board in March 2015 and was appointed Chair in December 2020, having previously been chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Nomination and the Remuneration Committees.

Background
Caroline has more than 40 years’ experience working with large global organisations in the chemicals sector and other industries, delivering value from M&A, turnaround, culture change and cost optimisation. She was a partner in and sat on the board of the assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as people partner. Caroline is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

External appointments
Non-Executive Director and Chair of the employee engagement committee of Spirax Group plc, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the audit committee of Shepherd Building Group Limited, honorary role on the board of the University of Manchester.

Nationality: Swiss

Position and date of appointment
Chief Executive Officer since November 2021; member of the Disclosure Committee.

Background
Michael has a track record of driving performance through strong operational management and strategic actions, including M&A. He was previously CEO of Conzzeta AG (now Bystronic AG) in Zurich, and spent 18 years with Clariant AG, leading its global industrial and consumer specialities division. Before that, he held leadership roles in Asia-Pacific, based in Hong Kong, and in Canada and Türkiye.

External appointments
Non-Executive Director of Glaston Oyj (Nasdaq Helsinki), sits on subsidiary boards of the Indutrade Group.

Nationality: British and Australian

Position and date of appointment
Chief Financial Officer since July 2022; member of the Disclosure Committee.

Background
Lily is a highly experienced CFO. She has worked in the manufacturing and engineering sectors for more than 20 years, and joined Synthomer from Essentra plc, a FTSE 250 components and solutions business, where she was CFO. Lily was previously CFO at Xaar plc, a UK-listed inkjet technology developer, and Smiths Detection business, a division of Smiths Group plc.

External appointments
Non-Executive Director and member of the audit committee of DCC plc.

Nationality: British

Position and date of appointment
Non-Executive Director since 1981; member of the Nomination Committee; designated Non-Executive Director to lead workforce engagement.

Background
Alexander was a director of investment banks Morgan Grenfell & Co and then Lazard Brothers & Co. He now manages a private investment company and his family’s grant-giving charity and other interests.

External appointments
Managing Director of CairnSea Investments Limited, a private investment company.

Nationality: German

Position and date of appointment
Independent Non-Executive Director since September 2023; member of the Audit, the Remuneration and the Nomination Committees.

Background
Martina has considerable executive experience in the chemicals industry, leading what became OXEA GmbH between 2003 and 2016.  Before this, she held a number of senior roles at Celanese AG and its predecessor Hoechst AG, focusing on strategy, operations and capital investment, human resources, and innovation and technology. Martina began her career as a research chemist and holds a PhD in chemistry.

External appointments
Non-Executive Director of Sasol Limited since 2018, and of Neste Oyj from 2017 to 2023.

Nationality: German and Italian

Position and date of appointment
Independent Non-Executive Director since July 2021; member of the Audit, the Remuneration and the Nomination Committees.

Background
Roberto has more than 35 years’ chemicals sector experience in both
commodity and speciality segments, mostly at BASF SE. There he held senior operational roles covering international sales, marketing and procurement and served on a number of joint-venture boards. He was chief executive of Styrolution for three years until 2014, before its joint venture with BASF.

External appointments
Chair of CABB Group GmbH, member of the boards of AeroSafe Global
and Clariant AG.

Nationality: German

Position and date of appointment
Non-Executive Director since September 2024.

Background
Uwe's entire career has been in the global chemicals industry. He has worked in the USA at BASF and as president of DyStar USA, and in Europe at CHT/BEZEMA and Archroma before joining a business acquired by KLK OLEO, part of the global oleochemical and manufacturing division of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK).

External appointments
Chief executive officer of KLK OLEO Europe, a subsidiary of Synthomer’s largest shareholder KLK.

Nationality: British

Position and date of appointment
Independent Non-Executive Director since September 2024; member of the Nomination and the Disclosure Committees. Following an induction and handover period, Peter will succeed Caroline A Johnstone as chair on 1 January 2025.

Background
Peter has strong public company governance and international manufacturing experience in a range of industries. Previously Peter was chair of Petra Diamonds Limited, Volution Group plc, Imagination Technologies plc and the speciality chemicals company Alent plc. Peter has also served as a non-executive director on the boards of Cookson Group plc, Meggitt plc, Essentra plc and Oxford Instruments plc, and in similar roles for UK Trade and Investment and the Royal Air Force.

Peter was chief executive officer of Laird plc from 2002 to late 2011, transforming it from an industrial conglomerate into a focused electronics and technology company. He previously held senior roles at BTR plc, Invensys plc and Costain Group plc. He holds a BSc in engineering, an MBA from the London Business School and is a chartered engineer.

External appointments
Non-executive chair of Keller Group plc, a role from which Peter will step down during the first half of 2025, having served approximately nine years. Non-executive chair of The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, a UK Government arm's length body sponsored by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Nationality: Malaysian

Position and date of appointment
Non-Executive Director since 2002; first joined the Board in 1993 and stood down in 2000 to become an Alternate Director; member of the Nomination Committee.

Background
Hau Hian has experience in organisational transformations, acquisitions, chemicals and manufacturing operations and sustainability matters.

External appointments
Non-Executive Director of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK), which is Synthomer’s largest shareholder; Managing Director of Batu Kawan Bhd, a listed Malaysian investment holding company, which is a 47% shareholder of KLK.

Nationality: British

Position and date of appointment
Non-Executive Director since June 2022 and Senior Independent Director since May 2023; Chair of the Audit Committee; member of the Remuneration and the Nomination Committees.

Background
Ian has extensive board experience as a former chief executive and as a non-executive for several international industrial organisations. His senior executive career was at Balfour Beatty plc, a global infrastructure business, which he joined as finance director in 1996 and where he served as chief executive from 2005 to 2013.

External appointments
Non-Executive Director and Chair of Grafton Group plc, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the remuneration committee of Anglo American plc, Non-Executive Director and Chair of  private companies BMT Group Ltd and Affinity Water Limited.

Nationality: American

Position and date of appointment
Independent Non-Executive Director since September 2018; Chair of the Remuneration Committee; member of the Audit and the Nomination Committees.

Background
Until 2005, Holly was group vice president, petrochemicals at BP plc. She has worked in the global chemicals industry for more than 25 years and held senior positions across North America, Europe and Asia. Since 2016, Holly has held non-executive director roles for global companies headquartered in the USA and spent 12 years on the board of a Norwegian-listed company.

External appointments
Non-Executive Director and Chair of the talent, culture and  compensation committee of Kimball Electronics Inc, Non-Executive Director of Albermarle Corporation.

Nationality: British

Position and date of appointment
Chief Counsel and Company Secretary since December 2022.

Background
Anant joined Synthomer having spent five years at defence and security company Ultra Electronics Group plc, latterly as general counsel, Europe and Asia Pacific. Before moving into industry, he worked at international law firm Slaughter and May, where he developed a broad corporate, commercial and M&A practice, including experience working in Hong Kong and Spain.

External appointments
Non-Executive Council Member at City, University of London.