Sir Frederick ("Fred") Ambrose Stuart Wood (30 May 1926 - 9 March 2003) was a prominent businessman and industrialist most renowned for overseeing the rapid growth of
Croda International
Croda International plc is a British speciality chemicals company based at Snaith, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
History
The company was founded by George William Crowe and Henry James Dawe in 1925. Crowe bought an abando ...
.
Early life
Fred Wood was born on 30 May 1926 in
Goole
Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire.
According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. Fred attended
Felsted School
(Keep your Faith)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Chris Townsend
, r_head_l ...
subsequently gaining a place to study at
Clare College
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
,
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, his time at which was cut short by military service obligations. In 1944 he joined the
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
, a branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft, completing his training in America and the Caribbean.
Early career and role in the establishment of Croda International
In 1925 Wood's great uncle, George Crowe entered into a partnership to produce
lanolin
Lanolin (from Latin 'wool', and 'oil'), also called wool yolk, wool wax, or wool grease, is a wax secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals. Lanolin used by humans comes from domestic sheep breeds that are raised specifically fo ...
, a fatty substance found in sheep's wool used widely as a base ingredient in lubricants and cosmetics. This new enterprise was named Croda and established at Rawcliffe Bridge, outside Goole, Yorkshire.
In 1927 Fred's father, Philip Wood became the manager of the new factory and made improvements to the production process, during the 1930s, to satisfy meet growing demand for lanolin.
Following his demobilisation in 1947 Fred Wood returned to join Croda as a management trainee. When Philip died two years later in 1949, aged 46, a committee of directors assumed responsibility for managing the business, with Fred acting as sales director. A year later, in 1950, Fred re-located to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to establish an overseas office.
Fred quickly established a US business with turnover of over £100,000 and three years later, aged 27, returned to the UK to assume the position of Managing Director, with the support of Chairman George Crowe.
Croda was still a relatively modest enterprise however Wood returned from his time overseas with what he termed "a dose of profit orientation" and ambitious growth plans for Croda. He concentrated company strategy on specialised high-margin products – in particular ingredients for premium beauty products – and move away from low-margin, high-volume production of lanolin. As Croda began to grow quickly it moved to its current headquarters at
Cowick Hall
Cowick Hall is a 17th-century Georgian country house in the town of Snaith, located between the villages of East and West Cowick, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The house is Grade I listed and several outbuildings on the estate a ...
,
a Georgian mansion in
Snaith
Snaith is a market town and parish in the civil parish of Snaith and Cowick in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town is close to the River Aire and the M62 and M18 motorways. The town is located west of Goole, east of Knottingle ...
, Yorkshire.
During his time in abroad Wood had also developed a fondness for American style which quickly made him a recognisable figure in 1950s Yorkshire.
He owned a yellow
Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
convertible, and learnt to pilot the company plane. Well-tailored and tall he quickly developed a reputation as a dynamic business leader. At one time Fred harboured political ambitions however an unsuccessful experience as a
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
parliamentary candidate for Middlesbrough East in 1962 and again in 1964 convinced him to re-focus his energy on Croda.
Growth of Croda and later career
In 1960 Fred Wood became Chairman as well as Managing Director and in 1964 oversaw the initial public listing of Croda. Boosted by Croda's strong growth record the share price grew steadily enabling Wood to undertake a series of acquisitions, notably United Premier Oil in 1967 and British Glues & Chemicals in 1968. Croda was becoming a truly international business – between 1964 and 1971 new ventures were launched in many new territories including Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Brazil and France.
[ Croda's profits, £10,000 at the start of Wood’s tenure, grew steadily passing £1 million in 1969. At the time of Fred’s retirement in 1986 group profits exceeded £20 million, supported by a global workforce of over 6,000.
His successful stewardship of Croda attracted attention in the world of Politics and in 1972 the Conservative government of Edward Heath approached him to take charge of the newly formed National Bus Company, an entity created from a collection of disparate regional services. Under Wood's chairmanship, between 1972 and 1978, the ]National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
inter-city network was launched under a new white livery with an eye-catching chevron logo. It boasted competitive fares from re-developed city-centre locations, such as London Victoria. Structural losses in early years were replaced by a robust surplus in his final year as Chairman. In recognition of his public service Wood was knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in 1977.
After the return of a Conservative government in 1979, Wood's success with the bus company led to him being approached, in 1981, to oversee a complex reorganisation process at the National Enterprise Board
The National Enterprise Board (NEB) was a United Kingdom government body. It was set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, to support the government's interventionist approach to industry. In 1981 the Conservative government of Mar ...
, merging it with the National Research Development Corporation The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) was a non-departmental government body established by the British Government to transfer technology from the public sector to the private sector.
History
The NRDC was established by Attlee's La ...
. In 1983, the new combined body was privatised to become the British Technology Group (BTG).
The role at the BTG marked the end of Wood's public service, and he stepped down as chairman of Croda three years later, due to the continued onset of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Frederick
1926 births
2003 deaths
British chief executives
Businesspeople awarded knighthoods
Croda International people
Knights Bachelor
People educated at Felsted School
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge