BUSINESS CLASS LECTURES David Gill Former Chief Executive of Manchester United Football Club, David Gill, took to the floor to talk about his career, transfer windows and his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson. David, who is a patron of the MGS Next 500 Appeal, entertained an audience of 200, including many guests from the business community, along with pupils from the School, by recalling how he had told his wife early on in his career that his dream job would be to become Finance Director at Manchester United, an ambition he would later fulfil.
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Interviewed by 18-year old Edward Lees, from Sale, who completed his studies at the School this summer and is looking to pursue a career in the media, David recalled how each decision he had made in his career had been strategic, to help him gain experience in a wide range of areas, ranging from being Finance Director of Proudfoot, a quoted company on the London Stock Exchange, to moving to First Choice Holidays. A chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse in 1981, he spent two years in San Francisco before deciding to return to the UK and join the Corporate Finance Department of the BOC Group, an organisation which had a large US presence. He then left to work at car-leasing giant, Avis, where he was responsible for the sale of the European leasing business to GE Capital for US$1 billion in August 1992. After
this, he became Finance Director at Proudfoot PLC, the worldwide management consulting business, and then at First Choice Holidays PLC, the third largest UK tour operator, before joining Manchester United F.C. in 1997. Speaking about his career, David said, “It’s important to grasp opportunities when you have them, but to do that you must have the experience and the qualifications to be able to be considered for the role. It’s the same analogy as players: you have to work hard, hone your