David (originally Davoud) Alliance was born in Kashan, Iran, to a Jewish family and was educated at the Etahad School, Iran. He began his career in the bazaars of Iran at the age of fourteen and, by the age of eighteen, moved to Manchester, England. He has three children and seven grandchildren and now lives in Manchester and London.
He owns 33% and is chairman of N Brown Group plc, a clothing catalog retailer. He was also the joint founder with Sir Harry Djanogly of Coats Viyella plc (now Coats Group plc), operating in 67 countries with 22% global market share, employing 70,000 people. Share sales, a valuable art collection and some small private firms account for the remainder of the family fortune. Alliance and Djanogly turned Coats Viyella into a £2bn textile business. Alliance is also one of the primary investors of the web measurement company SimilarWeb.[7]
Lord Alliance holds a Doctorate of Science at Heriot-Watt University and a Legum Doctor (Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa) from the University of Manchester. He used to be an Honorary Fellow of UMIST as there is no UMIST anymore after the merger.[9]
In the Sunday Times Rich List 2015 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, he was placed with an estimated fortune of £3.1 billion.[14] Since his elevation to the peerage in 2004, he has given the Liberal Democrats £668,872 in donations, plus an additional £20,996.56 in notional interest on loans he has made to the party.[15]
Lord Alliance owns a home in Didsbury, Manchester and a mock-Georgian mansion in St John's Wood, an affluent area of northwest London. He also owns a collection of Lowry paintings.[16]
In September 2015, Manchester Business School was renamed in Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) in honor of Alliance, which has had a long-standing association with the school and wider university. AMBS's head, Fiona Devine, said, "The donation made by Lord Alliance and the Alliance Family Foundation will support the biggest transformation the school has seen since it was established some 50 years ago."[18]
Alliance's autobiography, A Bazaar Life (co-written with Ivan Fallon), was published in 2015.[19]
A pomegranate tree Or leaved Vert fructed of five Or seeded Gules and tied about the trunk with a bow party lengthwise Vert and Gules.
Escutcheon
Argent on a pale Gules between four pallets, the outer Vert, the inner Gules interlaced with eight barrulets Vert a shuttle Or tipped and spooled Argent.
Supporters
On either side, a Persian lion Gules winged langued armed tail tufted and gorged with a plain collar attached thereto a chain reflexed over the back Or.
Badge
A Persian lion sejant Gules winged langued armed tail tufted and gorged with a plain collar attached thereto a chain reflexed over the back Or.[20]
£500 million (2018)[1]
