Craig Phillips
Encyclopedia
Craig Phillips is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 builder, DIY expert, television personality and presenter
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...

, best known for winning the first series of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 show Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...

. He is trained as a bricklayer and in DIY, appearing in numerous series related to this since 2001.

Biography

The younger of 2 children, his family moved to Newport, Shropshire
Newport, Shropshire
Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It lies some north of Telford and some west of Stafford sitting on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border...

 in the late 1980s. At 18, Phillips secured a day release bricklayers apprenticeship whilst employed with Wrekin Council’s construction department. Determined to ensure he excelled in his chosen profession, he attended further night school classes in advanced brickwork and civil engineering. Having qualified with a City & Guilds, Phillips went on to set up his own building company. The business quickly went from strength to strength employing more than 30 tradesmen.

After leaving the Big Brother house as its first winner, Phillips announced he was giving his £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

70,000 prize fund to his friend Joanne Harris, who had Down's syndrome, to pay for her heart and lung transplant. He had begun raising money with friends for Harris sometime before entering Big Brother, raising only small amounts of money towards the £250,000 needed for her operation in the USA, but within 6 days of winning he achieved the target required for her life saving operation thanks to public support and generous donations from celebrities. Harris died in April 2008.

He has featured in comedy series Bo' Selecta!
Bo' Selecta!
Bo' Selecta! is a British sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis, known for its often deeply surreal, abstract toilet humour, which lampoons popular culture. It was broadcast on Channel 4 and ran for three series between 2002 and 2004, spawning several spin-offs...

and appeared in the reality TV series, Back To Reality raising £40,000 for Macmillan Cancer Trust
Macmillan Cancer Trust
Macmillan Caring Locally is a British registered charity , which was formed in 1974 to support a palliative care unit at Christchurch Hospital in Christchurch, Dorset, southern England...

.

At Christmas 2000, Phillips released the charity
Charity record
A charity record is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause. Some of the earliest charity records came from the Music for UNICEF Concert, with ABBA's Chiquitita and the Bee Gees' Too Much Heaven among them released as singles, with all the royalties going to UNICEF...

 single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "At This Time of Year" with Warner Music. The single went to Number 14 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, achieving silver disc status and raising over £40,000 for the Downs Syndrome Association. It stayed in the top 40 for 3 weeks. Since then he has appeared in videos for 2 other xmas singles - Bo Selectas! Proper Crimbo which reached No. 4 in 2003 and Ricky Tomlinson
Ricky Tomlinson
Eric Tomlinson , known by his stage name Ricky Tomlinson, is an English actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and James "Jim" Royle in The Royle Family....

's Xmas My A*se which reached 25 in 2006.

In the 1990s, before his TV career began, Phillips bought and renovated his first house. He presented Renovation Street with Linda Robson
Linda Robson
Linda Patricia Mary Robson is an English actress. She played Tracey in the BBC comedy, Birds of a Feather from 1989 to 1998.-Personal life and education:...

 for Carlton ITV before being brought in as the DIY
Do it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...

 expert for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 on an exclusive contract in 2001.

Phillips has now presented as 'resident expert' on a large number of televisions shows across the globe including Housecall (live daily morning show), BBC 1, Housecall In The Country, BBC 1, Builders Sweat and Tears, BBC 1 & UK Style, Our House, UK Style, Trading Up, BBC 1 & UK Style, Big Strong Boys, BBC 1 & UK Style, Boyz In The Wood (2 x 10 part carpentry series) Discovery Realtime, Big Strong Boys In The Sun (Europe), BBC 1, Renovation Street, ITV1 & Discovery Realtime, Sex and the City (Series 4 - Episode 7 (USA) NBC,Trading Up In The Sun (Europe) BBC 1, House Trap, BBC 1 and Craig’s Trade Tips, BBC 1.

He also has a production company called Avent Productions. http://www.aventproductions.co.uk/index.htm For Avent he has presented the programmes Conversion a 10 part series for Discovery Realtime and the sixth series of Hung, Drawn & Quartered, a 6 part series filmed worldwide for British Forces Broadcasting Service
British Forces Broadcasting Service
The British Forces Broadcasting Service provides radio and television programmes for HM Forces, and their dependents, in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kosovo, the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Tristan da Cunha as well as a live satellite...

. The company also produces corporate productions many of these for building companies.

In 2007 Phillips joined the team of 60 Minute Makeover
60 Minute Makeover
60 Minute Makeover is a British popular daytime home interior design television programme broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom.-Overview:...

for ITV1. He completed 80 shows in 2008, the first 40 of these aired in late 2008 with a further 40 airing throughout Spring 2009.

February 2009 saw Craig appear in Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in Escape From Takeaway Prison for 6 weeks.

Summer 2009 sees the release of Craig's autobiography with Bantam Press (A division of Transworld).

On 29 May 2009 he was heard talking to Petrie Hosken on LBC (London's Biggest Conversation - 97.3 FM) about his time in BB1 and how lots of wannabe's are now entering Big Brother. In July 2009, Craig returned to the Big Brother house to help celebrate the show's tenth anniversary. Craig competed in a task against one of the current housemates. Craig was only in the house for a few hours and was a replacement for Nick Bateman
Nick Bateman
Nicholas "Nasty Nick" Bateman is a British media personality and a former contestant on the first series of the British version of Big Brother.-Big Brother:...

 who pulled out of doing the appearance.In 2010,Phillips again re-entered the Big Brother House and completed in a shed building task. He also appeared in Dermot's Last Supper,a show to celebrate the ending of big brother.

In April 2011 he hosted a brand-new show called Celebrity DIY With Craig Phillips for Home. In 2011 he also became an ambassador for Ryobi. In June 2011 he also hosted "If It's Broke, Fit It" for Home.

Building School

After 2 years, research planning and construction Phillips developed the largest independent construction training academy in the North-West, opening its doors in September 2005 to its first 152 students. The facility was formally opened by Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, is a British barrister working in the legal system of England and Wales. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; the couple have three sons and one daughter...

 QC in January 2006.

The 25000 sq ft (2,322.6 m²) facility was designed and built by Phillips and his team to simulate a real construction site with 88 solid individual rooms for various types of wet trades, 48 carpentry bench workstations and a 9000 sq ft (836.1 m²) open plan workshop for brickwork - large enough to build several entire houses. Along with the practical workshop areas the academy also consists of 3 large fully equipped I.T classrooms, various staff offices, administration and reception areas.

Within the first 6 months of running a £1 million pound contract awarded by the Learning and Skills Council. After a year's successful trading, and having achieved full centre accreditation awarded by the Construction Industry Training Board
Construction Industry Training Board
The Construction Industry Training Board is the Industry Training Board for the UK Construction Industry. It was established on 21 July 1964 by the Industrial Training Order 1964...

, Phillips transferred ownership to Carter and Carter Group Plc, the country's largest independent training provider.

Charitable support

Phillips is a patron of the Downs Syndrome Association and road safety charity, Brake. In 1985, aged 13, he experienced the personal tragedy of losing his father by a drunk driver. In 2000 he was approached by the Department for Transport to back the governments national Think! drink, drive media campaign. Craig faced the national media and reflected on his family's experience as he launched the campaign alongside the transport minister.

He was one of the Lord Mayor of Liverpool’s chosen charity ambassadors (alongside footballer Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...

 and musician Gerry Marsden
Gerry Marsden
Gerard "Gerry" Marsden is an English musician and television personality, best known for being leader of the British band Gerry & the Pacemakers.-Biography:...

) assisting at events throughout Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture 2008. His term as an appeal ambassador ended in May 2009 when the Mayor handover took place. He has also participated in numerous sports events: marathons and distance running, captaining teams at charity golf events, cycle tours, he has played football and tennis for charity at major UK championship venues including Liverpool F.C, Birmingham City F.C and Wimbledon.

To date he has raised over £500,000 for charities and charitable causes.

External links

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