Croda International Plc, manufacturers of speciality chemical ingredients that enhance everyday consumer and industrial products, has just been awarded first place in the innovation segment, second in the chemical sector category and eighth place overall in the 2014 Britain’s Most Admired Companies Awards.

The renowned Management Today awards are the largest awards of their kind in the UK; they highlight corporate reputation by recognising key factors critical to business success, with winners identified by means of peer review.

Steve Foots, Chief Executive of Croda said; “To be named Britain’s Most Innovative Company is a fantastic accolade and we are hugely proud to collect this award.  Innovation runs through every part of our business and for this to be recognised by industry peers, and the investment community, is testament to the dedication and hard work of our employees across the globe.”

Organisations are scored against nine performance areas; from quality of management, financial soundness and quality of goods and services, to the ability to attract, develop and retain top talent, the capacity to innovate and commitment to community and environmental responsibility. Opinions on these areas are sought from more than 200 Board members at some of the UK’s largest companies, as well as analysts and City commentators.

Commenting on the results, Matthew Gywther, editor of Management Today said; “Croda took the 2014 criteria award for Capacity to Innovate, in recognition of its world-class reputation for generating new ideas for its customers and bringing them to market.

“Researched by Prof Mike Brown and his team at Birmingham City University, and with a history dating back over 20 years, Britain's Most Admired Companies provides a fascinating insight into that most hard-won of intangible assets, corporate reputation.”

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About Croda

Croda is a speciality chemical manufacturer who, through the imaginative and practical use of science, creates ingredients and technologies that improve people’s lives by enhancing everyday products. They are the name behind the high-performance ingredients in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world, creating products that are relied on by industries and consumers worldwide.

Croda has 3,500+ employees working across 18 manufacturing sites and in offices in over 30 countries. In the wide ranging business sectors that they serve, its focus is on developing and delivering innovative ingredients for; Personal Care; Crop Care; Home Care; Health Care; Geo Technologies; Industrial Chemicals; Polymer Additives; Coatings and Polymers and Lubricants.