Philip Sellwood, Chair, Non-Executive, Advisor, Trustee specialising in Sustainable energy, Transport and Smart technologies

Philip has had an extensive commercial career in the Retail, Food and Private Equity markets. He spent twenty years with Marks & Spencer, joining as a graduate in 1977 and working in almost every part of the business. Amongst his achievements at M&S were the expansion of the £3 billion food business and the development of the innovative mail order and e-commerce activity. He left M&S in 2000 as Director of Group Strategy. Philip has other strong retail experience, most recently as Commercial Managing Director for the Thresher Group (best known for its Thresher/Victoria Wine/Wine Rack stores), where he was responsible for trading, buying, marketing and the supply chain.

In addition to strong private sector experience, Philip has demonstrated a real commitment to the public sector. During the last 15 years he has undertaken work with the DTI/Defra, for an educational charity and as Ministerial Advisor at the Home Office. He is currently a Non-Executive Director at the Improvement and Development Agency – which works closely with the Department for Community and Local Government. Philip also sits on the Editorial Board of Sustain magazine, is a member of the UKERC (UK Energy Research Centre) and sits on the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership Board. He is a member of several influential Government Task Forces, including the Government & Industry 2016 Zero Carbon Housing Force, and as an Independent Commissioner to sit on the LGA Climate Change Commission. He is also a trustee of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Philip has three children. His personal interests include wine, cricket, food and the arts. He graduated from Nottingham University with BEd (Hons) and has an MBA (Dist) from the University of Westminster. In addition he is a Fellow of the British Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Energy Saving Trust

Formed in 1992, Energy Saving Trust is a social enterprise group with a charitable Foundation.

In our role as an independent and impartial organisation, we provide a source of trusted expert energy advice to empower millions of people to lead affordable, low-energy lifestyles. This covers how to reduce carbon emissions, use water more sustainably and save money on energy bills in the home.

Helping people save energy and reduce fuel bills is a big task so we work with a range of partners which includes governments in the UK and internationally, local authorities, communities, third sector organisations and businesses. This allows us to:

• Give free independent and impartial advice online to over five million consumers every year
• Develop online models and tools that identify the energy saving potential of millions of homes
• Help thousands of communities get started with their own low-carbon projects
• Undertake new pioneering research to help us find practical solutions towards an affordable, low-energy lifestyle
• Manage and deliver programmes that inform understanding of key domestic energy issues
• Test the latest low-carbon technology and energy-using products to measure or verify their performance in real-life situations

All of this work allows us to put people at the centre of what we do – helping everybody save energy every day.