Sir Philip took a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering from ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ in 1976. After graduating he joined Arup, the global design and engineering firm, as a graduate engineer. In 1993, he became Director of Ove Arup & Partners and in 2004 was appointed head of Arup's Europe and Middle East Region where he was responsible for delivering over 50% of the firm's global turnover. He was Executive Chairman of Arup Group from 2009 to 2014.
Sir Philip joined Woods Bagot in December 2015 and is now the non-executive Chairman. He also sits on the London Mayor's Infrastructure Delivery Board, and served as Chairman of London First between 2012 and 2014. He was a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Group from 2011 to 2013 and founded the Infrastructure and Urban Development Community at the World Economic Forum. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, an Honorary Fellow of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), and was knighted in 2014 for Services to Engineering.
He was appointed to ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Council in July 2011 and became its Chair in May 2015.