Peter Andrew Jestyn Phillips (born 1 May 1962) is Chief Executive of

Cambridge University Press & Assessment Cambridge University Press and Assessment is a non-school institution of the University of Cambridge. It was formed under Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II's approval in August 2021 by the merge between Cambridge University Press and Cambridge As ...

, a non-teaching department of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, when it was formed on 1 August 2021. He is also a Fellow of

Wolfson College, Cambridge Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates. The college also admits "mature" undergraduates (aged 21 and above), with around ...

, a Trustee of the

Cambridge Commonwealth Trust The Cambridge Commonwealth, European & International Trust is an organization that offers scholarships to students from overseas and the Commonwealth (excluding the United Kingdom) who have been accepted for admission to the University of Cambri ...

and a Council Member and former President of

The Publishers Association The Publishers Association (PA) is the trade organisation serving book, journal and electronic publishers in the United Kingdom, established in 1896. Its mission is "to strengthen the trading environment for UK publishers, by providing a strong v ...

. He was previously a trustee of the

Nuffield Trust The Nuffield Trust, formerly the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, is a charitable trust with the mission of improving health care in the UK through evidence and analysis. The Nuffield Trust is registered with the Charity Commission as ch ...

, the

Crafts Council The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary craft in the United Kingdom, and is funded by Arts Council England. History The Crafts Advisory Committee was formed in 1971 to advise the Minister for the Arts, David Eccle ...

, Article 19 and the John Schofield Trust, an adviser to the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

, Chairman of the Sabre Trust and a director of Parliamentary Broadcasting Limited.

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddes ...

described Phillips as one of the "most influential people in UK publishing”.

Education

Phillips studied Mathematics at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, graduating with first class honours. He also holds a Masters degree from the

and graduated from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

’s

Advanced Management Program An Advanced Management Program (AMP) is an intensive non-degree senior executive education program often offered by elite business schools and aimed at senior managers and government officials. It is offered by business schools in several parts o ...

in 2002.

Career

After graduating from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Phillips joined the strategy consulting firm

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and nonprofit organizations. One of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three management co ...

, where he spent seven years, before moving on to corporate finance at investment bank

SG Warburg S. G. Warburg & Co. was a London-based investment bank. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm was acquired by the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1995 and ultimately became a part of UBS. ...

. In 1993, he joined the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

(BBC) as Head of Corporate Planning and became Finance Director of BBC News in 1997, before being appointed as BBC News’ Chief Operating Officer in 2001. In 2005, he became the BBC’s Director of Business Development, and was responsible for the sale of BBC Broadcast to Australian investment bank,

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited (), more commonly known as Macquarie Bank, is an Australian multinational investment banking and financial services group headquartered in Sydney and listed on the ASX (). Macquarie's investment banking division is Au ...

, for £166m. The business was subsequently renamed

Red Bee Media Red Bee Media Ltd., formerly Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services (EBMS), is an international broadcasting and media services company and the largest access provider in Europe. Red Bee has its headquarters in London, England, with branch offi ...

. In 2006, Phillips moved to

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

, the UK's media and communications regulator, where he was a member of the Board. As Partner, Strategy & Market Developments, he was responsible for its approach to reshaping regulation in the light of digital developments, and led its work on the future of public service broadcasting, high-speed broadband, and illegal internet file sharing. Early in his tenure, he presented Ofcom's findings into the changing use of electronic devices in the UK which questioned the future of

commercial advertising A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

, and was a member of the Steering Board that informed the UK government's 2009 strategic report into a

Digital Britain The Digital Britain report was a policy document published in 2009, which outlined the United Kingdom Government's strategic vision for ensuring that the country is at the leading edge of the global digital economy. The Digital Economy Act 2010 was ...

that was sponsored by the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for Culture of the United Kingdom, culture a ...

and

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Gordon Brown premiership on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Uni ...

. In 2007, he led the organisation's call for a national debate on the future of children's television in Britain, given concerns about cultural differences present in imported shows. Giving evidence to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Communications Committee in 2010, Phillips acknowledged concerns about children's programming in the UK, but stated the output of domestic broadcasters had been driven by parliamentary decisions. In 2008, he presented the findings of the organisation's second consultation into the future of

Public Service Broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

, which concluded that £145-235 million of replacement public funding would needed by 2012 to keep public service programmes in the UK in addition to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Phillips and other Board members turned down bonuses in 2009 after the organisation froze the pay of all Ofcom staff during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. In 2010, he presented the conclusions of the organisation's 18-month review of early termination charges on landline telephone contracts in the UK. Telephone operators BT, TalkTalk and

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

all reduced their exit charges following the regulator's determination of apparent inconsistencies with the

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 Unfair may refer to: * The negative form of the adjective ''fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting fro ...

. In 2010, Phillips moved to

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, the world's oldest media organisation, as Chief Operating Officer. He was appointed as the Press's Chief Executive in 2012. In 2018, Phillips, along with other representatives of the Publishers Association called on the UK government to make sure the country retained its place as ‘the world’s publisher’ during the UK government's

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

negotiations with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. In 2021, he became the inaugural Chief Executive of

, formed when the

merged

with its worldwide assessment arm

University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), branded as Cambridge Assessment, was a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge. It merged with Cambridge University Press to form Cambridge University Press and A ...

(UCLES, also known as Cambridge Assessment). At the 2022

Education World Forum The Education World Forum, the largest annual gathering of education and skills ministers in the world, is held in London each year. The Education World Forum brings together Ministers of Education, Higher Education and Skills, their advisors and ...

, Peter Phillips warned of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on students' mental health, urging the gathering of education ministers and leaders to "put wellbeing at the heart of everything we do." In 2024, Phillips argued for “more attention and investment in Africa’s education systems”, in an article for the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. That year he wrote in the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

that "Global economic advancement hinges on educational success in low-income countries."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Peter Andrew Jestyn 1962 births Living people Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of Wolfson College, Cambridge Businesspeople from Cardiff Cambridge University Press BBC people Harvard Business School alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Bain & Company employees S. G. Warburg & Co. people