At the Edinburgh Festival in August 2023, Sally Phillips stood on stage and told an audience exactly why her fourteen-year marriage ended. Her husband, she said, had left her for a member of the Russian Yoga Federation. She added, with a comedian’s precision, that she was no longer legally allowed to say that, but he probably would not be listening anyway.
She was right on at least one count. Andrew Bermejo has never said a word publicly about any of it.
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What Sally Phillips Has Said About the Divorce
The Edinburgh Festival was not a one-off. Sally has addressed the split across several verified occasions, each time adding a different layer.
On the Channel 4 programme Romesh: Talking to Comedians, she confirmed Andrew had fallen in love with someone else, disclosed she had tracked down the woman’s Facebook profile, found a photo of her in an upside-down yoga pose, and then stepped back from the topic entirely.
On the Postcards from Midlife podcast in April 2025, speaking to hosts Lorraine Candy and Trish Halpin, she described her first reaction to the separation:
“The person who knew me the best had rejected me.”
A close friend challenged that thought immediately, telling her: “He never knew you best.” Sally reflected that the friend was right.
She also revealed that the menopause hit at the same time as the divorce, and for a while she believed the night sweats, brain fog, and intense anger were caused by the stress of the split rather than anything hormonal.
Andrew Bermejo has not responded to any of it. Not in 2017 when the marriage ended, not in 2023 when the Edinburgh quote circulated widely, not since.
Who Andrew Bermejo Actually Is
Full name: Andrew John Bermejo Born: March 1963, United Kingdom Nationality: British Based: Richmond, Surrey
The British press settled early on “shipping director” as his professional descriptor. It is accurate in spirit but understates considerably what he spent his career doing.
His professional background sits inside global maritime technology and port cost management, confirmed through his LinkedIn activity and company records.
At MARCURA Group, Andrew worked in business development. MARCURA’s flagship platform, DA-Desk, is the world’s largest provider of port cost management services, used across major international shipping companies. The group also operates maritime payments, sanctions screening, and charter party management platforms serving the global shipping industry.
At Safetytech Accelerator, the innovation arm founded by Lloyd’s Register (one of the oldest maritime safety organisations in the world, established in 1760), Andrew held the role of Maritime Business Development Manager. His work there included involvement in the MAMII project (Methane Abatement in Maritime Innovation Initiative), a cross-industry programme addressing methane emissions in shipping. He attended Gastech 2024, Anticipate London 2024, and LNG Shipping 2024, and was active in industry conversations around offshore wind energy infrastructure as recently as late 2024.
He also ran his own consultancy, A2 Consulting Limited, as director from July 2002 until the company dissolved, and separately left a testimonial with Spinnaker Global, a recruitment firm that works exclusively within the shipping, maritime, and marine insurance sectors.
The “shipping director” label was never wrong. It just left out most of the story.
The Marriage and Three Sons
Andrew and Sally Phillips married on 17 January 2003, settling in the Richmond, Surrey area of southwest London.
Their three sons:
| Son | Approximate Birth Year |
|---|---|
| Oliver (“Olly”) | 2004 |
| Luke | 2007 |
| Tom | 2011 |
Olly was diagnosed with Down syndrome when he was ten days old. The diagnosis had not been detected during pregnancy. Doctors warned at the time that he might never walk or talk. He went on to do both, along with riding a bike, reciting poetry, and developing, by Sally’s account, an impressive sense of humour. All three boys shared a reported love of swimming, cricket, and Barcelona Football Club.
Sally also spoke about two miscarriages between Olly’s birth and Luke’s, describing how the grief created a rift in the marriage because she and Andrew processed it differently. She woke up from surgery after the second miscarriage alone in the hospital.
In October 2016, Sally presented the BBC Two documentary “A World Without Down’s Syndrome?”, which examined the ethics of prenatal screening for Down syndrome and its social implications. Andrew was not part of the documentary. That was always Sally’s story to tell publicly. His involvement in raising Olly stayed private.
The Charity Work That Never Made Headlines
Between April 2012 and September 2013, Andrew served as a Director of Skylarks Charity, a registered organisation based at The Crossway Centre in Twickenham, a short distance from the family home in Richmond.
Skylarks provides free activities, therapies, and support for children with additional needs and their families, including children with Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, ADHD, and hearing or visual impairments. It is a parent-led charity that receives no government funding. It has since been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and supports more than 4,000 registered families.
Olly was around eight years old during Andrew’s directorship. The location, the timing, and the charity’s specific focus say more about his involvement than any interview ever has.
The Business Detail Nobody Reported Properly
Companies House records reveal something the tabloid coverage of the divorce entirely missed.
Andrew Bermejo was not only Sally Phillips’ husband. From October 2005 to March 2018, he served as Director, Secretary, and Person with Significant Control of Bad Dolly Limited, Sally’s own professional services company, incorporated in February 2004. He held a controlling stake in the company for over twelve years, managing the business operations behind her acting career throughout their marriage.
He was formally removed as Director and Secretary on 20 March 2018, and his status as Person with Significant Control was formally ended on 6 April 2018. The divorce did not just end a personal relationship. It ended a professional one that had been registered at Companies House for more than a decade.
Where Andrew Bermejo Is Now
He remains based in the United Kingdom. His LinkedIn activity through late 2024 shows he is still engaged with the maritime sector, posting commentary on industry developments including the Mitsui and MOL acquisition of Nigg port in Scotland and its significance for offshore wind energy supply chains.
There is no public record of him remarrying. No interviews. No statements.
Sally Phillips, for her part, has moved forward. She is in a relationship with a man named Ian, whom she has described warmly in several interviews. She appeared in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in 2025, reprising her role as Shazzer across all four films in the franchise.
Sally talks. Andrew does not. After more than eight years since the marriage ended, that division appears to be permanent. What is documented, between Companies House records, his maritime career, a charity board seat in Twickenham, and twelve years running his wife’s professional company, is a life that existed almost entirely outside the frame of her public one.
The rest he has chosen to keep to himself.
