David Newman

I will start by saying that I know how challenging and rewarding studying at the OU is, as I did it for four years as an undergraduate, followed by a year out and then another four years for my MBA. However, I can honestly say that it equipped me in business, and I spent the next twenty-five years using it (successfully and unsuccessfully!) and it has made me a massive OU FBL advocate and hence why I have returned as a part time tutor for B302 strategic management, where I can hopefully blend theory with practical experience.

I have worked in financial services, banking and insurance for thirty years, starting in sales, moving on to marketing and then general management with roles as marketing director at banks, an investment company and insurance company, before becoming CEO of a large, specialist insurance broker in the UK and abroad. Along the way I have also been the chairman of a personal injury law firm, director of an anti-fraud body working with the City of London Police as well as an adviser to a youth charity and mountaineering body. I am also an active venture capital investor and an official evaluator of pre-pack administration insolvencies.

I live on the New Forest south coast and am lucky enough to look out over the sea where I can indulge my love of the outdoors be it on the water, in the hills or travelling. My “claims to fame” are that I have been involved in several expeditions including trekking to the geographic north pole in 2010 and being a member of Sir David Hempleman-Adams’ team that got the first balloon to it in 2000, and I occasionally do OU general lectures on these expeditions.