Lubricants
Our global team consists of marketing, technical and sales experts and regulatory specialists working together to provide you with premium products and service excellence.
Our success is driven by our focus on collaboration, our can-do attitude and our desire and ability to think differently. We achieve this by encouraging our people to be curious and seek out creative ways to satisfy the unmet needs of our customers. We work together as one global team, empowered to use our collective skills and knowledge to grow our business. We take pride in the intimate relationships our people have with our customers and our ability to remain close to them through our local operations.
As we continue to evolve, our focus will remain the same; a team of passionate experts dedicated to working closely with our customers, delivering to them sustainable and innovative ingredients which they can use to bring sustainable and innovative solutions to their customers.
Our Key Contacts:
Chris Nottingham
Global Managing Director
Chris graduated in Chemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, joining Croda straight from University in 1984. Since then Chris has worked in a number of sales and commercial management positions, including 15 years based in Singapore where he was ultimately responsible for the Asia region. After a year in global procurement Chris joined the Lubricants business in 2010 to lead it commercially. He manages the team responsible for strategy, M&A, business policy, marketing, sales, key customer relationships, innovative product development and market research. In his spare time Chris is a committee member for the Tockwith & District Agricultural Show Charity and Secretary for The Village Club, Green Hammerton. Chris also enjoys photography, cooking, partaking of good food, probably made by a more professional chef than he, good wine and “proper” real ale being a member of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.
John Eastwood
Global Marketing Manager
John graduated in Chemistry from Lancashire Polytechnic in 1987 and has worked in multiple positions in the 30 years he has spent in the Lubricants industry (ICI, Uniqema and Croda). He started his career at ICI (Synthetic Lubricants) in 1987 and spent more than 20 years in a variety of technical roles before moving into Marketing. He has a keen interest in everything tribology and writes the occasional technical article. John can often be found presenting at conferences and is highly involved in customer projects. He manages the team responsible for marketing communications, research, idea generation/development, new product launches and relationship development with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In his spare time John enjoys golf, biking and camping holidays.
David Freeman
Global Research & Technology Manager
David graduated in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh before undertaking a PhD in Natural Product synthesis with Professor Gerry Pattenden at the University of Nottingham. With 20 years experience in the chemicals industry, David has held a variety of product & process development roles with both ICI and Croda. David is responsible for the Lubricants Research & Development team globally, as well as Croda’s European Synthesis Team. In his spare time David enjoys running, playing the guitar and spending time with his family.
Roger Friedl
Sales Manager – Europe
Roger graduated with a degree in Business from Teeside and has over 20 years’ experience from various positions in the chemical industry. He joined Croda in 2002, is based in central Germany and has spent the past 15 years in sales for Croda Lubricants. Roger manages the European Sales Team and has global responsibility for selected key customer accounts. In his spare time Roger enjoys cooking, mountain biking, motorcycling and skiing.
Chris Donaghy
Sales Director – North America
Chris graduated with a Bachelors of Chemistry Engineering from Villanova University and has worked in multiple positions in the 25 years he has spent in the Lubricants industry. He started his career at ExxonMobil in various engineering, manufacturing and commercial positions. Chris joined Uniqema in 2000 holding various commercial management roles and when the company was acquired by Croda, he assumed the Sales Director position in North America for Lubricants and Polymer Additives. He has a keen interest in solving customer problems through technology as he manages the North American commercial team. In his spare time Chris can be more than likely on the side lines coaching basketball, lacrosse or football (the American kind).
Tim Eyre
Sales Manager – Asia
Tim graduated in Chemistry and has worked across the lubricants sector in a variety of sales roles. Prior to joining Croda, Tim spent time in base oil marketing and OEM Global Accounts Lubricant sales, managing both factory fill and after-market business across Europe. Now working from Singapore, Tim is responsible for Lubricants Sales and Business Development in Asia, where the accounts range from supplying lube additive components to global brand leaders for the Automotive sector and to rapidly growing SME’s dealing with the diverse challenges of the Industrial Lubricant market. Away from work, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife and two grown up sons, traveling and following his favourite football team.
Felipe Lopez
Business Development Manager - Latin America
Felipe graduated in Chemical Engineering from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and has worked in technical and sales positions in the lubricants markets for 13 years. He started his career in 2003 working in R&D for a Brazilian chemical company and one year later moved into technical support for customers abroad and locally, mainly in the lubricants and coatings segments. In early 2012, Felipe joined Croda to be responsible for Lubricants and Industrial Chemical Sales in Brazil and almost three years later became responsible for finding new opportunities and developing new business in Latin America together with the sales team. He has a keen interest in meeting customers from different countries and is highly involved with their projects. In his spare time Felipe enjoys cultivating bonsai trees, doing barbecues and studying wine.