A Master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Liverpool means that Phil Jackson’s career could have had a completely different path entirely. With 8 years at AP Racing now under his belt, the aerospace industry’s loss is certainly automotive and motorsport’s gain. But how did he end up in his current role? What has he enjoyed along the way? What advice does he have for the next generation?

Phil is quick to point out that despite doing an aerospace master's, he’s always been a great lover of the motorsport and automotive industry. After searching for the right graduate role, Phil began his career as a Graduate Project Engineer at a Coventry-based automotive pressing business - exposing him to major automotive manufacturing brands and OEMs right from the outset.

After six short months in the role, he was promoted to Project Manager, responsible for introducing more than 200 product variants through the business for leading customers. The experience gained over the next year and a half proved to be invaluable and gave him further confidence to push on with his career.

Then, in early 2016, came an exciting opportunity courtesy of the team at AP Racing. And, since joining the team in April 2016, as a Key Account Engineer/Manager looking after one of the key OE accounts, Phil has never looked back.

During the next seven years, Phil deeply embedded himself into the AP Racing family, taking on multiple new accounts, including some of the company’s key marquee clients. By the latter stages of that role, Phil was responsible for a large quantity of key accounts.