Chris Philp

Christopher Ian Brian Mynott Philp (born 6 July 1976) is a British entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. He was elected in May 2015 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Croydon South.

He is the founder of the Next Big Thing, and co-founder and Partner of Pluto Capital, a property development firm, which has offices in Serbia, Montenegro and London.

Early years

Philp was brought up in West Wickham where his mother, Edna (née Mynott) was a teacher and his father, Dr Brian Philp MBE, FSA is an archaeologist. He was educated at St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, and then at University College, Oxford where he was awarded a First Class Physics Degree and completed a Masters specialising in theoretical quantum mechanics.

Work

After leaving Oxford University, Philp worked for McKinsey and Co before starting his first business, Blueheath, in 2000. Sales grew to £70 million within 4 years. Blueheath was floated on the AIM stock market and was subsequently bought by the £3 billion turnover Booker cash & carry group. Booker's return to the public market, via a reverse takeover of online wholesaler Blueheath, took the City and the wholesale sector by surprise.