David is a serial entrepreneur and is also one of the youngest ever FTSE executives in the UK. Entrepreneurship is in David’s blood and his early fascination for making a positive impact in the world gave him the hunger and drive for making a difference and creating opportunities.

By the time he was 24, David had launched the first of two harm reduction businesses where he and his co-founder registered more than 800 health and tech patents, making them the 11th most prolific intellectual property filers in the UK. These were CN Creative Group, launched in 2008, and Nerudia, launched in 2013, which were subsequently sold to FTSE companies. Within just eight years, David created hundreds of new jobs, and made a positive impact on public health.

As a highly driven businessman who enjoys constantly pushing himself out of his comfort zone, David, at the age of 33, became one of the youngest-ever FTSE 100 executives in the UK when he joined Imperial Tobacco’s executive committee. In this role, he also oversaw the transformation of the Company’s equality, diversity and inclusion efforts which remain central to his agenda.

An angel investor, David has advised and helped capitalise over 30 entrepreneur-founded businesses. These include some of the country’s most promising, positive impact startups, such as Super Awesome, an innovative child protection software company, which sold in 2021 to Fornite creator, Epic Games.