Philip Morrish: From the Trading Floor to a Safer Future

As a stockbroker in the 1980s, Philip Morrish was in the right place at the right time to catch and ride the wave as the City of London transformed into the financial and business powerhouse it is today.

Philip’s 40-year career in finance started in banking, but things really took off in the run-up to 1986 when the ‘Big Bang’ deregulated the City of London, turning it into a financial centre to rival New York.

Philip specialised in industry research, company analysis and sales in the chemical and waste sectors.

One of Philip’s strengths for the team was the creative use of PCs to develop company forecasting models, valuation models, and industry and CRM databases.

He built an impressive career which included senior roles working for some of the City’s most prestigious investment banks, during which time he achieved a number of significant successes.

Among these was helping a fledgling investment bank (backed by NM Rothschild) into an international investment bank.

Each additional percentage point of market share was celebrated throughout the firm and every office received a flat bed trolley laden with cases of champagne.

By the time Merrill Lynch acquired it in 1996, Smith New Court was the largest UK investment bank handling around 14 per cent of all UK trades.

The rewards reflected the intensity: Philip regularly worked 14 to 16-hour days.

This period saw the chemical team ranked number one, and Philip himself number one for the waste management sector, by investment managers.

He explained: “It was a fabulous time. It was the height of ‘loadsamoney’ and all the rest of it. It was the young Turks taking the industry and the opportunities by the scruff of the neck and developing it.

“We worked collaboratively to make things happen, it was about teamwork.

“It was hard work. But would I do my time again? Yeah, absolutely because the arrival of AI now is like the opportunity PCs provided when I first started. We had the ambition and the desire to be the best. I still retain that.

“I've always likened the City to being on a rollercoaster. You're all excited when you first get on. Then the ride keeps going and eventually you tire of it and the only time you can get off is right at the end, when it comes to a stop.”

Philip’s desire to ‘give something back’ and his connection to the waste sector led to a long and prestigious role within the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC).

He was admitted as a Freeman in 1994, and went on to serve in a number of roles including as Master and Clerk, and now sits on the back benches as a Past Master Emeritus.

Philip’s favourite memories, of which there are many,  include his installation in Mansion House as ‘The Master’, where he sat beside the Lord Mayor in a seat normally reserved for a senior dignitary such as the Prime Minister or the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in the last few years bringing members together at Henley Royal Regatta, an event he has attended for roughly 40 years, and his wife Angie has also attended.

He explained: “The WCEC is a group of like-minded successful people wanting to give something back. I liked the culture of it. I could see the potential of it.”

Throughout his livery work, Philip advanced two central messages. First, cleaning is not a cost on business and the industry must change that damaging narrative to ‘it is a commercial benefit’. Second, environmental cleaning is the ‘first line of public health defence’ — a truth demonstrated powerfully during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today, Philip’s entrepreneurial spirit remains strong. As co-founder of Safer Space, he is helping develop a global platform that uses verifiable data to improve transparency, accountability and trust in cleaning services.

By digitising verification and audits, Safer Space enables organisations to demonstrate compliance, monitor performance and make evidence-based decisions.

The venture combines Philip’s experience in finance and technology with his commitment to raising standards across the environmental cleaning sector. Its audit technology also has potential applications in other industries where compliance and service assurance are essential.

For Philip, it is another ambitious challenge, driven by the same qualities that have shaped every stage of his career: teamwork, innovation, evidence-based decision making and an enduring determination to make a meaningful difference.