Phil was appointed in January 2011, following an 18-month spell as the County Council's Executive Director of Resources.

His career to date has included a number of finance roles in both the public and private sectors and led to him being recognised as one of the leading finance officers in local government. He was named Finance Director of the Year at the Local Government Chronicle Investment Awards in 2010.

He has previous experience as a Chief Executive, having held the equivalent role at South Ribble Borough Council from 1996 to 2000, and had key roles in a number of landmark initiatives as Executive Director of Resources at Liverpool City Council between 2000 and 2009. As Chief Executive of the County Council he is the most senior officer at the largest local authority in the North, serving 1.2m residents with a workforce of around 40,000 people.