Against some stiff, and often more high-profile international opposition, Croda International is an impressive FTSE 100 performer.
Since this column visited the chemicals group in November 2018, it has bought a specialist company for the treatment of cancer in pets and reported a solid set of annual results, including the payment of a special dividend.
That purple patch, however, was followed by more muted half-year numbers and the shares have made only modest gains, up a little more than 3.5 per cent in that time.
Croda International was founded in Yorkshire in 1925 when a chemist and an entrepreneur joined forces to open a factory for refining wool grease.
It has grown to become a worldwide specialist manufacturing group with a stock market listing that