David Ross

Biographical Information
In June 2009: "David Ross, the multimillionaire entrepreneur and Tory party donor, today raised about £75m by selling shares in Carphone Warehouse, the mobile phone retailer he co-founded with schoolfriend Charles Dunstone, and Big Yellow, the storage group. He sold his entire 9.02% shareholding in Big Yellow for about £36m, and 24m shares in Carphone, representing a 2.6% stake in the company, to raise nearly £39m. He still holds 155m shares in Carphone, worth more than £250m. The shares were placed with investors by JP Morgan Cazenove. Traders had suggested the sales could be related to a refinancing of his commercial property business, but sources said this was not the case and Ross had decided to cash in for personal reasons...The fundraising comes about six months after Ross was forced to resign as a director of a number of companies, including Carphone, Big Yellow and National Express, after breaching stock exchange rules. He had admitted using his personal shareholdings in the businesses as security for millions of pounds worth of personal loans, but failed to notify his fellow board members. Under the rules governing directors' disclosure, any director must notify the company's chairman of any share dealings, including the use of shares as security for loans. Ross also quit his prestigious role advising the London mayor, Boris Johnson, on the 2012 Olympics, though he has since become involved in England's bid for the 2018 World Cup. He is believed to have bought out Morgan Stanley, his partner in property business Kandahar Real Estate, for a nominal amount."

"Mr Ross sold his prized property asset, Drake Circus shopping centre in Plymouth, to British Land for £240m. "

In 2011 a report noted: " Rebekah Brooks no longer receives billets-doux from David Cameron, but she can rely on the loyalty of her old friend David Ross, the Carphone Warehouse tycoon. Mandrake hears that the former chief executive of News International recently attended a shoot hosted by Ross, who owns the 700-year-old Nevill Holt estate in Leicestershire." 

"David Ross is a man who has the trappings of success. He was born into the Ross frozen food family in Grimsby who sent him to school at Uppingham. He read law at the University of Nottingham before joining Arthur Andersen and becoming an accountant. But what distinguishes him from others is that he recognised his own entrepreneurial spirit early on. Together with friend, Charles Dunstone – they met while at Uppingham – they set up Carphone Warehouse from a flat in Harley Street. The story is well known. The business became the largest independent phone retailer in Europe and made Ross very wealthy indeed.. According to the Sunday Times rich list, he is worth more than £700m...Among many interests, he has become a philanthropist, although he is probably embarrassed to be called that. Ross gives the impression that he is not entirely comfortable with interviews. He is accompanied by Mark Bolland, who, as deputy private secretary to the Prince of Wales, was credited with winning round public opinion to the heir’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles...Ross has set up the David Ross Foundation and David Ross Educational Trust. Through these charities, he has put significant money into Nottingham Potential, an initiative of David Greenaway, the vice chancellor of the University of Nottingham who wants to help children in disadvantaged areas of the city get to university."

Affiliations

 * Former chair, National Express