Phil Loach
Pro-Chancellor, distinguished friends, colleagues, graduands and guests.
Phil Loach is Chief Fire Officer for West Midlands Fire Service, one of the UK’s foremost and best performing emergency services, providing fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue across the region.
Hailing from Wordsley in the Borough of Dudley, the son of a housewife and bricklayer, Phil’s early interests included football and electronics, along with locating Victorian dumps and excavating various household items.
Formerly an engineer by trade, Phil worked in both the private and public sector and was a middle manager at the Benefits Agency before joining West Midlands Fire Service in 1994.
Initially serving as a Firefighter across Birmingham and surrounding areas and stations in the Black Country, Phil’s previous roles include Operations Commander for Birmingham, Head of Emergency Response, Assistant Chief Fire Officer - Operations, and Deputy Chief Fire Officer before becoming Chief Fire Officer, the highest ranking officer for British Fire and Rescue Services, last year.
His early inspirations included Pete Tomkinson, his first recollection of a 'talent scout' who also had a very attuned moral compass.
Phil leads West Midlands Fire Service as one of the UK’s foremost emergency services combining innovation with practical solutions aligned to personal accountability. Over the past two years, Phil and his colleagues at West Midlands Fire Service has been working with Coventry University on a situational judgement tool, to help fire fighters make the right decision at the right time.
Phil has always been passionate about education and gained a degree in Management Studies from the University of Worcester in 2004 before continuing his management and leadership studies through Coventry University and we are delighted to welcome Phil back to Coventry today to acknowledge his commitment to that approach.
Phil has a relaxed and approachable style and is a champion of work-based learning and values-based leadership and management. He believes passionately that in professional life there are only two dynamic modes of existence: either we influence, or are influenced by others. He gives special thanks to Ann Diprose, formerly of Coventry University, for giving him the confidence to understand the holistic approach to development that has helped him to achieve his current status.
In September 2013, Phil received the AFSA Award for Leadership in Equality and Diversity at the organisation’s fifth international annual conference.
The award is presented every year and recognises exceptional fire and rescue service leadership in equality, diversity and inclusion. It also acknowledges the recipient’s personal influence as a leader in enabling others to recognise and fulfil their own potential.
Phil’s interests include cycling and fishing and he is a self-proclaimed Michelin star chef and enjoys sharing his cookery talents with family and friends.
He gives thanks to his family, including his wife Samantha for what he calls an unfamiliar journey, which has seen them remain supportive while he has put time into developing himself academically, whilst delivering a role that goes far beyond a traditional 9 to 5 approach. He praises his supportive family environment, that has allowed him to focus on 'growing in to the challenge of being a leader in very challenging times.'
Phil is an appointed member of the Board of Governors of West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, a patron of ‘Burn-Aid’, a charity that aims to support Burn Survivors and their families across the West Midlands region and is President of the West Midlands Branch of the National Association of Retired Firefighters (NARF).
In recognition of his sustained contribution to work-based learning, innovation and organisational development and change through strategic partnerships, Coventry University, by decision of the Academic Board, has the privilege of conferring the Degree of Master of Education, honoris causa, on Phil Loach.