Philip Wood

Philip Wood is a Customs and Strategic Management expert with 30 years of experience in more 40 countries. Philip was previously a member of HM Revenue and Customs in the United Kingdom and has obtained a wide experience of Customs work. As a graduate of the Civil Service Fast Stream Development Programme he has been appointed to roles at administrative, operational and senior management levels, including administrative management of customs operations at London Heathrow and compliance management (VAT, Excise & Corporation Tax) for some of the UK’s largest and most complex businesses.

Whilst working for HM Revenue and Customs, Philip was the Large Business Change Programme Manager with responsibility for the co-ordination and programme management of key strategic change projects delivering benefits of over $4 billion in additional tax revenue. During a period of secondment to the private sector, Philip was the Project Manager for a Customs Reform & Modernisation Programme in West Africa which delivered over 200% increase in customs revenues. Most recently Philip has worked as the Resident Customs Advisor for AFRITAC West 2 where he was responsible for the design, delivery and evaluation of capacity building programmes for customs administrations within the West Africa region.

Philip is a registered PRINCE2™ Practioner and has worked for the World Customs Organization (WCO), International Monetary Fund, USAID, EU and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to deliver change management and knowledge strategies for entities in Central Europe, Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Africa.

In his spare time Philip enjoys reading, travel and music. He is also a keen collector of vintage fountain pens and watches.