Simon Lees Email & Phone Number

Harpenden, England, United Kingdom

• General Manager for Plant Impact, part of Croda Europe. Plant Impact lead research and development in crop enhancement to create foliar spray and seed treatment products that growers can rely on to increase the yield.
• Fully integrated all aspects of Plant Impact’s global business into the Life Sciences division of Croda including commercial, legal, regulatory, supply chain, IT and HR.
• Managed two major restructuring programmes to dramatically reduce costs whilst maintaining and enhancing the commercial business to move from a £2.5m loss in 2019 to a projected £0.5m profit in 2021.
• Established a decentralised commercial model with Croda regional teams responsible and accountable for growth and pipeline, supported by a small central team.
• Directed the company’s new product development pipeline delivering the first new technology launch in over 10 years together with refreshing all existing product ranges.

Harpenden, UK

• Set up and managed the global supply chain including all specialist vendors for raw materials and packaging, contract manufacturers for finished products, logistics partners for supply to customers in over 30 countries.
• Created and ran all operational management review processes for the commercial business and supply chain including Senior Leadership Team review and Sales and Operations Planning.
• Established all supporting operational documentation including raw material, packaging and finished product specifications, production manuals, product labels, logistics and regulatory documentation and product safety.
• Identified new and novel formulation and packaging developments which supported new product development.

• Led supply chain improvement programme for the company’s largest supply chain designed to deliver annual savings of over $8m and reduce average inventory by over 40%.
• Supported REACH implementation in Europe and ensured that full compliance was achieved during pre-registration and first phase implementation stages.
• Completed a supply chain improvement project for South African operations including establishing KPI’s and S&OP, demand management and asset planning processes.
• Provided supply chain and manufacturing due diligence for an acquisition in South Africa. Identified annual cost reduction opportunities of over $1m.

Pau, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

• Led all aspects of the Supply Chain in Europe including purchasing, planning, production and logistics (annual spend in excess of $100m, 150 staff in France).
• Established monthly operating cycle to support the S&OP process including demand and supply reviews and financial controls.
• Established supply chain and commercial KPI’s.
• Led regional cost saving initiatives including range rationalisation process.
• Drove improvements in HSEQ standards.

Basel, Switzerland

• Successfully led a matrix organisation of over 50 distributing a wide range of hazardous chemical products throughout the world as competitively as possible while ensuring availability in a highly differentiated supply.
• Developed distribution strategy to optimise total end to end supply costs and deliver high levels of responsiveness in support of Global Supply Chain and Commercial strategies.
• Implemented clearly defined global processes, KPIs and operational standards.
• Established cost transparency through consolidation of regional and global budgets with an annual spend of over $360m.
• Reduced global distribution spend, as a % of sales, by 5% since 2005 including a $20m reduction in air and deep-sea freight costs.
• Directly managed, coached and mentored a team of 5 within the Global Freight Group with an operating budget of $75m. Responsible for all inter-regional logistics activities including sea, air and bulk movements.

Basel, Switzerland

• Responsible for the management of distribution, warehouse and customs activities in Europe, Africa and Middle East (annual spend $120m, over 80 staff in UK, France and Switzerland).
• Reduced cost base by $16m, generated over $15m in sales income and reduced warehouse numbers by over 50% through network optimisation and integration, outsourcing of services, asset sale and duty optimisation.
• Identified and delivered logistics improvements to increase customer responsiveness including late customisation and separation of flow of goods from flow of funds.

Guildford, England, United Kingdom

• Led implementation of a substantial rationalisation programme for the company’s largest supply chain with annual sales of over £350m.
• Delivered allocated fixed cost reductions of over 60% with a £12m NPV.
• Managed closure of sites in UK, Guatemala and Spain with corresponding transfer of production to a strategic manufacturing facility in Belgium.

Guildford, England, United Kingdom

• Key player in major change project reducing global supply chain costs by £100m.
• Member of the Project Leadership Team leading the Global Business Processes stream; delivered annual saving of £20m within Distribution & Warehousing, Contract Manufacturing and Packaging Component areas.
• Implemented improved business processes including Sales & Operations Planning.
• Set up Performance Management process within the project and operated best practice consulting skills.

Yalding, Kent, England, United Kingdom

• Responsible for managing all contract manufacturing activities in Europe, Africa and Australia (operating budget over £12m)
• Rationalised contractor numbers from 43 to 18. Reduced annual supply chain costs by over £3m through contract negotiation and increased use of in-house capacity.
• Established global processes for 3rd party manufacture.

Yalding, Kent, England, United Kingdom

• Responsible for managing the site’s largest production facility with 73 staff covering all manufacturing, QC, maintenance and warehousing activities and an operating budget of £3m.
• Created a modularised activity-based training plan focused on whole tasks and high- performance team working.
• Doubled output in last 12 months with a 15% increase in productivity.

Yalding, Kent, England, United Kingdom

• Responsible for 33 staff and an operating budget of £2m.
• Successfully transferred the operation from a 20-year old production-led facility to a £17m state-of-the-art market responsive unit.
• Gained ISO 9002 accreditation.
• Managed introduction of a new range of formulations and sales packs.

Doncaster, England, United Kingdom

• Managed team of 46 technicians, supervisors and engineers and a £2m operating budget.

Doncaster, England, United Kingdom

• Managed design, procurement, construction and commissioning for projects of up to £1m including installation of production lines and advanced process control equipment.