Phil Mills was born in Wales in 1963. His first chance to become part of the World Rally Championships came when he got spotted by M-Sport owner and future Ford Boss, Malcolm Wilson. Mills joined Malcolm as a team coordinator in the M-Sport team during the 1993 Rally Great Britain. Promotion came Mill's way as Wilson invited him to read out gravel notes in 1994. Wilson won the title this year.

Mills also guided Mark Higgins to the same title in 1997. He stayed with Higgins for just 5 events into 1998. When M-Sport hired new recruit Petter Solberg, in 1999, they got back in touch with Phil Mills who was asked to aid the young Norwegian in his early years in the series.

When Solberg controversially jumped ship in the middle of 2000, for Subaru, he took his driving aide along with him. Mills helped Petter win the 2003 World title and since their pairing up at Ford, the two have become an inseparable and an incredible partnership in the world of the World Rally Championships.