strong> Career Biography

Phil Davies is General Counsel & Compliance Director of Tata Chemicals Europe based in Cheshire, UK.

Holding a degree in Modern History from St Andrews University, and Post-Graduate diplomas in law from the College of Law, Chester, Phil started his legal career at Addleshaw Goddard LLP in Manchester, advising predominantly on commercial and IT contracts and in particular major outsourcing and system implementation projects for both customer and supplier clients.

After leaving Addleshaw Goddard to move into industry, Phil led the legal team of United Utilities Utility Solutions, the non-regulation division of United Utilities PLC. In that role key highlights included managing major network outsourcing agreements with Dwr Cymru and Northern Gas Networks, before playing a leading role in the divestment of the non-regulated businesses in a number of separate transactions as United Utilities took the strategic decision to focus on its core regulated water and wastewater businesses.

Phil joined Tata Chemicals Europe in 2011, and was quickly appointed to the Board a position from which he has been able to immerse himself fully in setting and implementing the strategic direction of the business since that time. He has a number of diverse responsibilities at Tata Chemicals Europe in addition to his core legal advisory, company secretarial and compliance responsibilities. These additional responsibilities include being responsible for the company’s interface with industry regulators, heading up the company’s SHEQ functions and being responsible for Tata Chemicals Europe’s land portfolio, ESG strategy and leading on major commercial projects with an emphasis on generating revenue from non-core assets and activities. Notable examples include Phil leading the company’s collaboration with Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant Limited in respect of the 600mw EFW plant being built adjacent to the company’s Lostock manufacturing facility, and creating and delivering renewable energy and habitat development projects using redundant brownfield land, generating significant monetary and non-monetary value from previously onerous landholdings.

Career highlights in his current role have included advising the Board on two major restructuring programmes central to Tata Chemicals Europe’s strategic move from its former guise as a traditional energy-intensive, commodity chemicals business to a lower energy and carbon intensive pharmaceutical and food ingredients business. Individual transactions comprised in these restructuring programmes included implementing new chemical manufacturing plants, the closure of aged plants, and the acquisition of a gas fire CHP plant and related outsourcing and then insourcing of its operation, as well as managing a number of very significant related commercial disputes arising from plant closures.

He is a director and company secretary of the key operating companies within the Tata Chemicals Europe group. Away from work, he is heavily involved in junior rugby union, coaching and managing Sale FC U16’s.