Philip Spencer

I have been a joint life member of the SWCPA for 20 years, and finally completed the path with my wife Gillian eight years ago, just before our first grandchild was born, as we knew we’d have no time afterwards. Last year I served as Vice-Chair, and Chair of the Membership and Fundraising Committee for the Association, and been a member of the Finance and HR Committee. 

My career has been largely in marketing: running a third of the brands for Procter and Gamble, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at two major International management consulting firms and then heading up the branding and identity practice for Northern Europe for the world’s largest marketing services firm. 

I also have major charity experience – running the commercial side of the world’s largest privately funded NGO, doubling revenues during my four-year tenure, and later leading commercial development at the Alnwick Garden in Northumberland, and then development for one of the Lord Mayor London’s charities. 

I am currently a volunteer pianist with the National Trust, Polesden Lacey, where I play every week, and have taken a leadership role on their appeal committee, which has succeeded in raising sufficient funds to refurbish their 100-year-old Steinway piano. 

I bring to the board a strong belief that the association needs to grow against a rapidly changing environment – this continues to be the case.  I continue to believe that marketing and the SWCPA brand need to be developed to compete for new sources of income, and I am encouraging the association increasingly to focus on this.  This is a world of many distractions, and one of my preoccupations is to help continue the charity to focus on its core mission – and being Vice Chair this year has put me in a better position to keep focussed on the core purpose of the Association as we have recruited new trustees.