Paul has a proven track record in developing markets, products and opportunities for creating value, business optimisation and transformation. Paul’s global experience provides the skill set required to deliver the Company’s strategy and provide inspiring leadership. Prior to joining Elementis, Paul was global CEO of the BP Lubricants business in 2013 after having overseen the BP Australia/New Zealand downstream business. In 2010, Paul was country president of Australia. Prior to this he was CEO of BP’s global aviation, industrial, marine and energy lubricants businesses (2009 to 2010) and CEO of BP Lubricants Americas (2007 to 2009). He joined BP after it acquired Burmah-Castrol in 2000, having joined the latter in 1994 after roles at Reckitt Benckiser and Kraft Foods. Paul holds a BSc in Packaging Engineering from Michigan State University and an MBA in Finance and International Business from New York University, Stern School of Business.

Ralph was appointed CFO-Designate and Executive Director on 12 September 2016 and became the Elementis Group CFO on 1 November 2016.

Ralph is an accomplished CFO who has a strong track record in finance, strategy development and implementation, and M&A which enables him to provide effective financial leadership to underpin the delivery of the Reignite Growth strategy.

Ralph had a 30 year career with BP, where he held a number of significant leadership positions, including roles in financial management, sales and marketing, corporate development, M&A, strategy and planning. In 2010, Ralph was CFO of BP Lubricants and served on the board of Castrol India Limited from 2010 until 2016.

Ralph holds an MA in Modern History and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from INSEAD.

Luc is responsible for leading the Performance Specialties business, which combines the segments previously known as Global Coatings, Energy and Talc. Previously, he led the Global Coatings business through the transformation programme and drove the execution of its growth strategies.

Luc started his career with Elementis leading the Personal Care and Surfactants businesses following leadership positions at specialty chemicals company Croda.

Luc has an MSc degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and a Professional Doctorate in Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology.

John was appointed a Non-Executive Chair and Chair of the Nomination Committee on 1 September 2021. John joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 4 February 2020 and was appointed Senior Independent Director on 29 April 2020 prior to his appointment as Chair.

Skills, experience and contribution

John served as chief executive of Spectris plc from January 2006 to September 2018, leading the business through a period of significant strategic transformation and development. Prior to Spectris plc, John spent 14 years at Honeywell International in a number of senior management roles including Chairman of Honeywell Automation India and President of Automation & Control for Asia- Pacific. His early career was spent at Daimler Benz A.G. as a research and development engineer.

Previous non-executive director roles include Exide Technologies, a US based supplier of battery technology to automotive and industrial users (from 2010 to 2015).

John holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (USA) and an MBA from INSEAD.

Committee membership

Chair of the Nomination Committee and member of the Remuneration Committee

External appointments

• Trustee of the Wincott Foundation
• Non-executive director of Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc
• Non-executive director of Johnson Matthey plc and a member of the audit, nomination and remuneration committees
• Advisor to Envea Global, a market leader in environmental air and emissions measurement and majority owned by The Carlyle Group

Trudy was appointed non-executive director on 15 March 2022.

Skills, experience and contribution

Trudy has over 30 years’ experience of work as a Senior Independent Director in the chemicals, engineering and high performance product sectors. Having built her executive career with global organisations such as Shell, Wärtsilä and Akzo Nobel, she brings a strong international perspective and a proven track record for driving sustainability through innovation.

In addition, Trudy has strong operational knowledge, gained during her time at Shell as Production Manager at the Pernis refinery in the Netherlands, the largest refinery in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

Trudy currently serves as a non-executive director and senior independent director of Accsys Technologies plc (AIM listed sustainable building materials business), a supervisory board member of SPIE SA (a listed technical services business) and as a non-executive director and senior independent director of TI Fluid Systems plc (a listed global manufacturer of automotive systems). Trudy previously served as a board member of The Netherlands Petroleum Stockpiling Agency (COVA) (2011-2021), non-executive director and senior independent director at Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc (2012-2021), non-executive director and senior independent director of Low and Bonar plc (2013-2020) and as a supervisory board member of Avantium N.V. (2020-2022).

Trudy has a Ph.D in Technical Physics from the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) and holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering.

Committee membership

Audit Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee

External appointments

• Non-executive director and chair of Accsys Technologies plc
• Independent Director of SPIE SA
• Senior Independent Director of TI Fluid Systems plc

Dorothee was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 1 March 2017.

Skills, experience and contribution

Dorothee provides the Board with valuable insight into the wider European chemicals sector as well as sector specific acquisition expertise. 

Dorothee manages her own corporate advisory consultancy serving a number of European clients in the pharma/biotech sector. She is active in various industry bodies. Her previous executive roles included managing director and head of Corporate Advisory Group (Europe) at UBS in Zurich, head of M&A chemicals and healthcare at a private investment bank in Germany and as a senior executive in the corporate finance department at the Roche Group. Dorothee served as non-executive director of the supervisory board of Bilfinger SE and member of the audit committee (May 2016 - May 2021).

Dorothee holds a master’s degree in Chemistry from the Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg and an MBA from INSEAD.

Committee membership

Audit Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee

External appointments

• Non-executive director of Temenos AG (from May 2023)
• Supervisory board member of OMV AG (from May 2024)