Bleddyn Phillips
Position: | Organisation: Solicitor
A Welsh speaking lawyer by training, having been brought up in his formative years in Pembrokeshire but hailing originally from Llanelli, Bleddyn's education was centred largely east of Offa's dyke - both at secondary and tertiary levels (law and theology at King's College, London followed by a further law degree at Oxford). Having been originally called to the Bar in 1977, he was, from 1999-2012, Global Head of the Oil and Gas practice at Clifford Chance LLP and was a consultant there until last year. Bleddyn's previous employment as a Commercial Director at the oil companies BP and Total provided the relevant industry experience to underpin that practice and provide a credible CV to potential clients whose language and culture he understood. As Global Head of the practice at Clifford Chance, he was responsible for the strategic development of that practice through its international network of offices (in almost 30 countries) drawing on the large breadth of skills and experiences of the firm across many jurisdictions. Within a few years the firm achieved recognition, through a number of awards, as the leading law firm in the sector. Allied with that was the development of a complementary and cutting edge project finance practice - essential in raising the very large sums of money required to finance multi-billion dollar oil and gas infrastructure developments.
Such multi cultural/jurisdictional experiences have been reinforced by periods of working abroad in countries such as the USA (San Francisco), France (Paris), Singapore and Moscow. Extensive travel in the Middle East was also a necessary cornerstone of Bleddyn's practice.
Since leaving Clifford Chance, Bleddyn have been closely involved with several strands of Welsh DNA - rugby, music and education. He is a Director of Llanelli Scarlets RFC (a brave admission in our tribal society!) and was Chairman of London Welsh RFC from January 2012 to October 2016. He has also been a Trustee of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff since 2012/3. Bleddyn is also closely involved with Swansea University - his parents' Alma Mater.