Philip Taylor

Philip Taylor is the confident and controversial candidate who many thought could be the potential winner of series 5. Michelle Mone Founder of Ultimo and winner of The Celebrity Apprentice 2009 said she had “expected to see Philip in the final if not win it all together”.

Philip had set the standard in episode three as the creator and designer of the “Body Rocka” fitness product. The “Body Rocka” achieving the largest number of unit orders and largest gross profit in the history of the show’s production.

Equally dramatic was his creation of now legendry character “Pants Man” which was panned by Sir Alan yet taken to the hearts of the nation and gaining cult popularity with university students around the UK. His downfall came when he fell for fellow candidate Kate Walsh. Mixing business with pleasure saw him fired and he did anything but go quietly.

Born in County Durham at aged 18 Philip undertook a 5 year Engineering Apprenticeship which he combined an ONC in Production Engineering. After seven successful years in industry Philip looked for a new challenge in the property.

Philip joined Robinsons chartered surveyors in 2003 where he excelled through the ranks after winning Trainee and Valuer of the year awards to manage of the company’s flag ship office in Durham City.

Since The Apprentice Philip has become a popular media character with regular work from GMTV, BBC and has become the most “Hit” individual candidate from Series 5 on Youtube.

In 2010 Philip founded Rocka Fitness Ltd and pulled in an exclusive retail deal with Argos to stock the Body -Rocka fitness unit across 700 stores in the UK and Ireland.

Rocka Fitness has gone from strength to strength pulling in international orders including the second largest fitness retailer in South Africa. Philip plans to launch the Body-Rocka product in the US in February 2011.

Philip was appointed as Apprenticeships Marketing Manager for the City of London and is looking forward to introducing young aspirational people to great businesses in the financial square mile. Philip has developed apprenticeship programmes for Jones Lang LaSalle, Standard Bank, Gatehouse Bank, Munich RE and Virgin

On 17th October 2011 Allison Beaumont and Hannah Myatt (Student Experience Co-ordinators for LAIBS) hosted a guest lecture with Philip Taylor who was a contestant on the BBC programme ‘The Apprentice’ in 2009.  The event was held in Cambridge and was open to all staff and students.  Approximately 60 students and staff attended, including 10 LAIBS students from Chelmsford. 

Philip’s talk covered a range of aspects from his background in engineering factories in the north east, his application for, and subsequent time spent as a contestant on ‘The Apprentice’ to the business ventures he has embarked upon since his time on the show. 

Philip was not shy about revealing his failed business ventures –  straight after he took part in The Apprentice he tried to launch a range of organic underwear called ‘Happy Pants’ which he wanted to sell in major high street stores.  He put a lot of work and effort into the product, but eventually came to the realisation that the business was never going to be profitable and pulled the plug on the idea.

Philip then described how he had managed to secure the license for his fitness product, the ‘Body-Rocka’ which he developed on the programme (the rights to the Body-Rocka are held by the makers of the show) and how 2 years after the show he has now successfully launched it in the UK – you can buy one from Argos or John Lewis!

However, despite his fitness product making steady progress Philip explained that he still needed job security. Philip currently works as an ‘Apprenticeship Marketing Manager’ for the City of London. Successfully helping young adults find apprenticeship work and develop their skills.

Philip was keen to encourage people, through his own experience, to follow through with their ideas but to not believe it was as ‘easy’ as it looked on television and most importantly to stay grounded and to know when to walk away.

At the end of the presentation, he answered questions from the audience for half an hour and took time to pose for photos.

Philip was an extremely engaging and charismatic speaker and proved to be very popular with the students.  Gemma Mulholland, year 2 HRM said afterwards: ‘I thought the event was really useful and informative – it really exceeded my expectations. I think Phillip was a brilliant speaker who was able to relate to the audience and provide practical advice for business students and any budding entrepreneurs’.

We hope that LAIBS may be able to run something similar again in the future.

“I would like to let you know how pleased we were to have had the opportunity to be present at Philip Taylor’s recent presentation to students at our training event.  He did a fantastic talk which was both humorous and informative.  I was particularly impressed with how well he connected with the students in the audience, those whom I spoke to after the event thought that his presentation was the highlight of their day” Senior Tutor, College   

“I was bowled over by Philips presentation to our college students. His delivery was fantastic and was perfectly pitched for the age group. Philip engaged and motivated students but he also made them laugh as he has a great sense of humour and doesn’t mind laughing at himself either. When the young people asked Philip questions he was honest and candid about the need to be determined and hard working and his highs and lows. He speaks with such an authentic voice which makes him really stand out and the teachers told me afterwards that even students who had issues with concentration were gripped from beginning to end. Philip was just fantastic!” MP

“A very engaging, candid and open speaker who gives a compelling insight into the world of the entrepreneur and the intriguing relationship between big business and celebrity status.  Phil’s straight-talking style, coupled with his approachable nature, left an audience of students in no doubt that they can be successful if they show commitment and confidence in their ability.” Director, University

“Our event to promote innovation and enterprise skills was run by students from local schools and Colleges. To raise the profile of our event we wanted a celebrity who would be able to both relate to the students whilst also having a business profile. After deliberating many names we felt Phillip Taylor would fit the bill perfectly for this event. Any preconceived notions regarding Phillip “pants man” Taylor soon disappeared once he arrived and started to mingle with the students and guests alike.  He was just right and not at all the “brash” person that the television had portrayed….it is all in the editing!  He had time for everyone and made the awards a personal and special memory after all of the students hard work.  Thank you Phillip and all the best with your future venture”. Head of Education and Training

Pimlico Plumbers has formed a new partnership with the City of London Corporation to boost its support of apprenticeship training.

http://www.recognitionpr.co.uk/clients/id/11838