Born in Sydney, Australia, Phil's first introduction to woodturning came at the age of 13 when his father acquired an 1870s American cast iron child's treadle lathe. Woodturning became a  serious hobby in his late 20's and after a six year spell in the travel industry, he took the decision become a professional woodturner in 1994. His knowledge and appreciation of English timbers was initially gained from working as a tree surgeon/forester for several years. Phil is the author the best selling project book “Woodturning :Two in One” . The book has been translated into 9 languages and to date, is the only English language woodturning project book to have been translated into Italian.

He is best known for his vessels and hollow forms with clear, fluid shapes and flowing lines. He uses contemporary coloured dyes to enhance hidden figure in pale woods, mostly sourced from tree surgeons and firewood merchants.

With the addition of threaded lids, his vessels lend themselves to becoming urns. He specialises in these beautiful functional pieces and they are highly sought all over the world. Phil describes his urns as "functional art" that can be displayed whether they contain ashes or not. “It is a huge honour that people want to keep the ashes of their loved one in a piece of my artwork.”

He is a past president of the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain and a member of the American Association of Woodturners.

He lives in Warwickshire, UK with his wife Cristina, Cirrus, a Pharaoh Hound and Lola a Cockerpoo .