Profile

Dr. David Wood is a British investor and award-winning musician and businessman who has a multipotentialite entrepreneurial approach to business. Through over forty-years of experience and a lifetime of study, he has accumulated an in-depth tacit and explicit knowledge of the industries he operates in. David was the recipient of an Independent Contemporary Music Awards Honorary Fellowship in Music, Royal Society of Arts Fellowship, NODA Musical Director award, Lancaster City Council Business of the Year award; and in 2023, received an Honorary Doctorate from Lancaster University - making him only the eleventh recipient of the Doctor of Music honoris causa degree since the formation of the University in 1964 - joining previous recipients: Sir Arthur Bliss, Sir Michael Tippett, Dame Janet Baker, Sir John Manduell, Sir Edward Downes, Et al. As well as being an incumbent Honorary Teaching Fellow in the department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Lancaster University Management School, he is also a Leader in Residence in the Faculty of Culture and the Creative Industries at University of Central Lancashire and holds the post-nominal letters HonsDMus HonsFDip FRSA DipMusTh AMusLCM. CURRENT ROLES: Y1 Investments: He owns a stake in circa four-hundred enterprises around the world. His portfolio broadly fits into one of seventeen areas of activity, including: [1] Music & Entertainment; [2] Media & Broadcast; [3] Hotels & Hospitality; [4] Fashion & Cosmetics; [5] Food & Beverage; [6] Technology; [7] Retail; [8] Sport; [9] Medical, Healthcare & Pharma; [10] Automotive; [11] Industry & Manufacturing; [12] Energy & Mining; [13] Telecommunications; [14] Banking & Finance; [15] Insurance; [16] Property & Real Estate; and [17] Shipping & Delivery. dwIP: He owns twelve [class 15] UK trade marks, including: [1] Charles Howes & Son; [2] Mendieta; [3] Beverley; [4] Levin; [5] Arena; [6] Paris Woodwind; [7] Collard & Collard; [8] ResoVille; [9] Shindo; [10] Glenlaw; [11] Briggs; and [12] Moretti. Faith & Hope Records: He is co-founder [1997] and co-director of the record label and publisher who have had a string of UK charts hits (including a #1) and released tracks featuring the artistes: Mint Royale, Duffy, Lauren Laverne, POS from De La Soul, Prince Buster, Stone Roses, George Michael, Damien Jurado, Jez Williams, Andy Kim, Clodagh Rodgers, Stephen Fretwell, and Manda Rin. Their music is on Hollywood films, the adverts of World leading brands, and television programmes globally. Promenade Music: He is founder [1989] and sole-shareholder of the music business that has “one of the largest and best stocked music shops in the North of England”. They have tens-of-thousands of customers (including musicians / band members of Mint Royale; Blur, Guns N’ Roses, Jamiroquai, Simply Red, Sam Fender, Chesney Hawkes, Big Country, Oasis) and their timeline of operations include the opening of Promenade Music Shop [1989], PM Hire [1990], PM Piano Restoration [1990], Big Discount Warehouse [1995], DMR Mobile Recording [1997], Hotwires PA Install [acquired 1998], Four0Four Media Recording [1999], Musicom Imports [1999], Music 4 Worship [2001], Educat Education Sales [2005], printedmusicshop . net [2009], and PM Music School [2014]. PREVIOUS ROLES INCLUDE: St Aubyns Sound Recordings: He was founder and owner of Morecambe-based jingle and recording business from 1986 to 1988. Yamaha Music School Morecambe: He was founder and owner of Morecambe-based music tuition business from 1987 to 1997. Safra Republic Holdings S.A: He was an advisor on intellectual property [music, media, entertainment, materials] for various operations owned by the Luxembourg-based investment holding bank from 1988 to 1999. Flightplan: He was founder and owner of Morecambe-based custom-made aluminium flight case business from 1994 to 1998. Faith & Hype: He was co-founder of the Manchester-based press and PR business - an arm of Faith & Hope Records - from 1998 to 2002. Art & Science: He was co-founder of the Manchester-based club nights - an arm of Faith & Hope Records - from 1999 to 2002. Monstermob Group PLC: He was a shareholder, advisor, and the main supplier of ringtones to the Lancaster-based mobile-phone entertainment company from 2000 to 2005. INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY AND LOVE OF DISCOVERY. David's continuing education includes: Study [current] of a suite of stock trading subjects at the New York Institute of Finance; gaining an undergraduate certificate in ‘operational business and management’ from Cambridge University; gaining a DipMusTh music theory diploma from the ICMA; gaining an AMusLCM associate in music diploma from the London College of Music; attending an executive coaching and mentoring course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama; attending a management and business skills programme at Oxford University; attending a general law course at the Lancaster Adult College; attending a music production course at the Manchester School of Sound Recording; attending a general music course at Huddersfield Technical College School of Music; and the Autodidact Study of music, retail, law, business, finance, and investment strategies. BELIEF IN MENTORSHIP. David's early career mentors include: The late Major Peter Parkes, one of the World’s most successful award-winning brass conductors; The late Edmond J. Safra, one of the most accomplished bankers in history and founder of several banks; The late Sir Denis Forman OBE, former Chair of Granada TV, Deputy Chair of Granada Group, Chair of the BFI, and Deputy Chair of the Royal Opera House [Covent Garden]; The late Anthony H. Wilson, former broadcaster, co-founder of Manchester’s Factory Records, and founder of the Hacienda nightclub; Keith J. Harris, former and founding General Manager of Promenade Music; and Doug D’Arcy, former President of Chrysalis Records International, Director of Chrysalis Group Limited, and shareholder in Faith & Hope Records. PASSIONATE SUPPORTER OF MUSIC, THE ARTS, AND HIS COMMUNITY. David is a Founding Advisory Board Member of the Lancashire Music Association [LMA], Patron of The Halle, Friend of Help Musicians, Friend of the Independent Society of Musicians Trust [ISM Trust], Friend of the Royal College of Music [RCM]; Member of the British Film Institute [BFI], Member of the Royal Northern College of Music [RNCM], Member of the American National Association of Music Merchants [NAMM]; Member of Lancaster Footlights; and a Charity Host for Box4Kids.Find out more about David at davidwood.biz