The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was formed under the 1957 Electricity Act, which brought about a reorganisation of the electricity supply industry in the United Kingdom. The aim of the act was to decentralise the industry, and the CEGB was one of two statutory bodies created by the Act. Representatives from the CEGB worked with officers of the Electricity Council, the other statutory body established under the Act, to formulate general policy for the electricity supply industry. The CEGB owned, operated and extended the network of power stations and main transmission lines that supplied electricity to the twelve Area Boards of England and Wales. It did not sell direct to customers except where specifically authorised by the Secretary of State for Energy. It did not operate in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The 1989 Electricity Act enabled the sale of the industry to private shareholders. When the Act came into force on 31 March 1990, the CEGB was separated into the National Grid Company and two electricity generation companies, PowerGen and National Power. The CEGB was formally dissolved in 2001.

George Philip was a cartographer who established a bookseller’s and stationer’s shop in Liverpool during the 1840s. In 1848, his son George was admitted into the company as a partner and in 1851 creating the company name George Philip and Son. Philip's nephew Thomas joined the firm, becoming a partner in 1854. The company moved to London under the name George Philip & Son Ltd, where they sold geographical and educational publications. The creation of a new branch of the company, Philip, Son and Nephew, in 1859 focused upon retail book-selling and school supplies. Further expansion of the business was enabled by the demand for school equipment and specialised maps and atlases, as the firm supplied these to schools in Australia and New Zealand. Philip retired in 1879 and the business continued to be run by the family until 1988 when it was sold to the Octopus Publishing Co, where it continued to trade as George Philip Ltd. Hachette Livre acquired the group in 2001.