Phil Bentley

Phillip Keague Bentley (born 14 January 1959) is a British businessman. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Mitie, and formerly the CEO of Cable & Wireless Communications.[1] and the managing director of British Gas, the British retail arm of the energy company Centrica.

Phil Bentley
Born
Phillip Keague Bentley

(1959-01-14) 14 January 1959
Bradford, England
NationalityBritish
EducationWoodhouse Grove School
Alma materPembroke College, Oxford
INSEAD
OccupationBusinessman
TitleCEO, Mitie
Term2016–
PredecessorRuby McGregor-Smith
Spouse(s)married
Children2

Early and personal life

Bentley was brought up in Bradford, and attended Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Bridge.[2] He holds a master's degree from Pembroke College, Oxford and an MBA from INSEAD.[3] He is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.[3]

Bentley is married,[4] and the couple have two children.[4]

Career

Bentley joined BP's graduate recruitment scheme in 1982, training as a management accountant. He worked in China from 1983 to 1985, and then Egypt and the US, before returning to the UK as head of capital markets.[1] He joined Grand Metropolitan in 1995, which became Diageo in 1997; from 1 July 1999 until 2000 he was finance director of UDV Guinness.[5]

Centrica

Bentley was group finance director of Centrica from 2000 to February 2007.[6] and was also managing director, Europe from July 2004 to September 2006.[6]

On 19 September 2006 it was announced that Bentley would become the managing director of British Gas, part of the Centrica group, taking over from Mark Clare from March 2007.[7] Bentley's stewardship was often controversial, as the company raised residential energy prices several times during his reign;[8] protests at company premises were not unusual.[9] Bentley frequently appeared in the media defending the company's decisions.[10] The controversy was fuelled by the rise in profits during Bentley's stewardship – profits from the residential energy division of British Gas increased by 24% in one year alone.[11] Bentley repeatedly claimed that price rises were beyond the company's control, and that they were not increased to raise profits.[12] Throughout his time at the company Bentley's salary (£681,000 in 2013)[13] was the subject of frequent criticism.[14]

On 27 February 2013, Centrica announced that Bentley would step down from his role at British Gas, from the Centrica board on 30 June 2013, and leave the company's employment on 31 December 2013.[15] Bentley was replaced by the managing director of Direct Energy (also part of the Centrica group) Chris Weston.[16]

Cable and Wireless

On 17 October 2013 it was announced that Bentley would succeed Tony Rice as CEO of Cable & Wireless Communications from 1 January 2014, coinciding with the relocation of the company headquarters from London to Miami, Florida.[1][17] On 6 January 2014, C&WC announced that Bentley had purchased 4.3 million shares in the company, at a value of around 3 times his basic salary of £800,000.[18][19] He demitted office after the acquisition of CWC by Liberty Global on 16 May 2016.

Mitie

In October 2016, it was announced that he would succeed Ruby McGregor-Smith as CEO of Mitie,[20] which he duly did on 13 December 2016.[21]

Other positions

Between 2002 and 2010 he was a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee of Kingfisher plc.[22] On 1 October 2012 Bentley was apportioned non-executive director of global engineering group IMI, and also joined the audit committee and nominations committee.[22]

References
  1. "Cable & Wireless Communications | Appointment of Phil Bentley as new CEO". Cwc.com. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  2. Hello (24 May 2011). "Profile – Phil Bentley: Power supplier boss proving he can handle it when the heat is on". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  3. content: Resolution Foundation. website development: Yes We Work. "Phil Bentley | Commission on Living Standards". Livingstandards.org. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  4. "Interview with Mhairi McEwan, Brand Learning". Marketingsociety.co.uk. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 15 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  5. "Phil Bentley". World of CEOs.
  6. Stocks. "Stocks". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  7. "Latest news | Centrica plc". Centrica.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  8. Ian Pollock. "British Gas raises gas and electricity prices – BBC News". BBC. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  9. "Our Chat with Millionaire CEO of British Gas Phil Bentley". Fuel Poverty Action. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  10. "Today – British Gas in 6% price hike". BBC News. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  11. "British Gas sees profits up 24% – BBC News". BBC. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  12. Phil Bentley, British Gas managing director (26 October 2012). "British Gas boss: Why I put your energy prices up". Moneysavingexpert.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  13. Andrew Clark Published at , 7 January 2013 (7 January 2013). "Business big shot: Phil Bentley of British Gas". The Times. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  14. Terry Macalister. "Bonuses and executive pay at Big Six UK energy firms under fire | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  15. "Latest news | Centrica plc". Centrica.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  16. "Utility Week – Analysis: 'Safe pair of hands' for British Gas". Utilityweek.co.uk. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  17. Titcomb, James. "Ex-British Gas boss Phil Bentley takes over at CWC". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  18. "City warms to new CWC boss Phil Bentley". London Evening Standard. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  19. "New CEO Commences Role at CWC". Otp.investis.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  20. Jill Treanor (1 January 1970). "Mitie's chief executive steps down after 'decade at the top' | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  21. Alex Ralph. "Mitie chief enjoys £500,000 payoff | Business". The Times & The Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  22. Phil Bentley Kingfisher Archived 2 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
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