Philip Rycroft

Career

After his DPhil, Rycroft joined the Scottish Office in 1989. He took a number of roles in agriculture, including being seconded into the Cabinet of Sir Leon Brittan in the European Commission from 1995–1997. With the passing of the Scotland Act 1998, Rycroft moved to become Deputy Head of the new Scottish Executive's Policy Unit in 1999.

Rycroft left the service in 2000 to work as Public Affairs Manager for Scottish & Newcastle plc., returning two years later as Head of the Schools Group for the Scottish Executive until 2006. He then worked as Head of the Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department for a year before being promoted to be the Director-General for Education at the Executive in 2007, during which time it became the Scottish Government.

In 2009, Rycroft transferred back to work for the British government as Director-General for Business and Innovation at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, later becoming Director-General for Innovation and Enterprise and Chief Executive of the Better Regulation Executive.

In 2011 Rycroft again left the service, serving for a year as Director for Corporate Affairs at Hutchison Whampoa. He then became the Director-General of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in the Cabinet Office in 2012, where he served until the general election in May 2015. Thereafter he became the Second Permanent Secretary and Head of the newly-formed UK Governance Group. As of September 2015, Rycroft was paid a salary of between £155,000 and £159,999, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.

Personal life

Rycroft attended The Leys School in Cambridge and then Wadham College, Oxford where he did an Oxbridge MA and then a DPhil. Rycroft is married with two sons. In the New Year Honors for 2014, Rycroft was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath, "For services to the UK's Devolved and Coalition Governments".