of Spain. At £18bn this was the largest cash deal ever done in Europe, and the second biggest in the world. Following the 2006 merger of O2 and Telefónica he sat on the Board of Telefónica. David has also served as a director of Barclays and Pearson and of a variety of private equity backed companies and was chairman of ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

During his career David has also undertaken a number of non-business roles, including four years (2002 to 2006) as Tony Blair's "Red Tape Czar"