At the age of 17 David formed a mobile disco business and then later supplemented that by working as a DJ in Sheffield nightclubs. He set up his first limited company at the age of 23 with a £1,000 loan from his mother and a similar loan from Barclays Bank. He has built up his business, by acquisition and organic growth, to a group of manufacturing companies exporting to over 100 countries. He has been a council member of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a Director of Business Link and Chairman of the Business Community Partnership. He was a board member of the Sheffield First Partnership and Chairman of Sheffield First for Investment. David has also served as a governor of Mansell School, a primary school in a deprived area of the city. He was asked to join the governing body after the school failed its Ofsted inspection. The school was successfully inspected some 16 months later and passed out of special measures. In 2006, he led a bid to win a £26million grant from central government to encourage entrepreneurship in Sheffield and served as Chairman of the Local Economy Board tasked with delivering the programme. He has Chaired the Big Challenge, an entrepreneur programme delivered across all Sheffield secondary schools for the last ten years. He was awarded an MBE in 2010 for his services to industry and regeneration in Sheffield. He has served for 5 years on the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Board with specific responsibility for inward investment and business growth. In 2013 he led a bid for £32 millions of RGF funding, on behalf of the Sheffield City Region which led onto a further £50 millions of investment funding and he chaired the Board overseeing the investment programme. He was installed as Master Cutler for the year 2014-15 and is currently the Chairman of Sheffield City Trust as well as being Chairman of Cavendish Cancer Care. He is also a Non Exec Director for a number of manufacturing businesses. He counts skiing, scuba diving, football, motor racing and sailing as hobbies. He has a private pilot's licence and a Piper Saratoga aircraft based at Gamston Airport