After a four-year spell as a management trainee at the
Daily Mail, Phipps went to work for
Ian Hunter at the Harold Holt music management agency in 1954,),
Pilar Lorengar,
Jessye Norman and
Jill Gomez. During his career Phipps forged close links with many musicians, including
Colin Davis,
Daniel Barenboim,
Bernard Haitink and
Yehudi Menuhin. In 1969, Phipps acted as co-director of the
Bath International Music Festival. This led to an approach from the
Arts Council of Great Britain, which in 1970 asked him to organise regional tours of opera, ballet and drama. In his capacity as director of touring, he did much to encourage the development of the regional opera companies and regional theatre. Apart from a brief interlude as general manager of the
Aldeburgh Festival, he remained at the Arts Council until his retirement in 1991. In the year of his retirement, he was appointed
CBE. ==Personal life==