David Alliance, Baron Alliance, ( fa, داوود آلیانس, he, דייוויד אליאנס; born 15 June 1932) is an

Iranian-British Iranians in the United Kingdom consist of people of Iranian nationality who have settled in the United Kingdom, as well as British residents and citizens of Iranian heritage. Iranians in the United Kingdom are referred to by hyphenated terms such ...

businessman and

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

politician of Iranian origin.

Personal

David Alliance (originally Davoud) was born in

Kashan Kashan ( fa, ; Qashan; Cassan; also romanized as Kāshān) is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran. At the 2017 census, its population was 396,987 in 90,828 families. Some etymologists argue that the city name comes from ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, 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 Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He has three children and five grandchildren, and now lives in

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Peerage

Alliance was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

1984 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1984 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

and in the 1989 New Year Honours received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

, the honour being bestowed 9 February 1989. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Alliance, of

in the County of Greater Manchester, on 1 July 2004 and sits on the Liberal Democrat benches.

Career

He owns 33% and is chairman of

N Brown Group N Brown Group plc () is an online retailer headquartered in Manchester, England. N Brown offers a range of products, predominantly clothing, footwear and homewares with a focus on underserved customer groups. The company is listed on the London St ...

plc, a clothing catalogue retailer. He was also the joint founder with Sir Harry Djanogly of Coats

Viyella Viyella is a blend of wool and cotton first woven in 1893 in England, and the "first branded fabric in the world".''Times'', 8 Sep 1987 It was made of 55% merino wool and 45% cotton in a twill weave, developed by James and Robert Sissons of Wil ...

plc (now

Coats Group plc Coats Group plc is a British multi-national company. It is the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of sewing thread and supplies, and the second-largest manufacturer of zips and fasteners, after YKK. It is listed on the London Stock E ...

) 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. Lord Alliance, with

Harry Djanogly Sir Harry Arieh Simon Djanogly, (born 1 August 1938) is an English textile manufacturer, art collector and philanthropist. Djanogly, who is estimated to be worth £300 million, made his fortune from the merger of his Nottingham Manufacturing ...

, turned

Coats Viyella Coats Group plc is a British multi-national company. It is the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of sewing thread and supplies, and the second-largest manufacturer of zips and fasteners, after YKK. It is listed on the London Stock ...

into a £2bn textile business. David Alliance is also one of the primary investors of the web measurement company

SimilarWeb SimilarWeb Ltd. is an Israeli web analytics company specializing in web traffic and performance. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, the company has 12 offices worldwide. Similarweb went public on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2021. History The c ...

. Lord Alliance serves on a number of committees including the Prince's Youth Business Trust,

Council for Industry and Higher Education A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, and the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

Foundation, and the Weizmann Institute. He is senior trustee of the Next Century Foundation. He serves on the Board of Governors of

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He has a number of fellowships including Fellow of the

Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

; Fellow of the

City and Guilds of London Institute The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

; and Honorary Fellow of

Shenkar College of Engineering and Design Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art (commonly abbreviated as Shenkar) is a public college in Ramat Gan, Israel. Shenkar serves the Israeli industry by providing academic qualification and R&D services for modern industries. Shenkar i ...

. Lord Alliance holds a Doctorate of Science at

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

and Legum Doctor (Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa) from the

. He used to be an Honorary Fellow of

UMIST The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...

as there is no UMIST anymore after the merger. Alliance received an Honorary Doctorate from

in 1991 Between 1984 and 1991 Lord Alliance was instrumental in the rescue of the Ethiopian Jews out of

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

by bringing them to Israel.

Wealth

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. 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.Electoral Commission register of donors – http://registers.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/regdpoliticalparties.cfm?ec= Lord Alliance owns a home in

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...

, Manchester and a

mock-Georgian Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...

mansion in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

, an affluent area of north west London. He also owns a collection of Lowry paintings. In 2012,

established an

Iranian Studies Iranian studies ( fa, ايران‌شناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...

Center, named after Lord Alliance. In September 2015

Manchester Business School Alliance Manchester Business School (Alliance MBS) is the business school of the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. One of the most prestigious business schools in the United Kingdom, it is also the second oldest in the UK, and pro ...

was renamed in

Alliance Manchester Business School Alliance Manchester Business School (Alliance MBS) is the business school of the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. One of the most prestigious business schools in the United Kingdom, it is also the second oldest in the UK, and pro ...

(AMBS) in honour of Alliance, who has had a long-standing association with the school and wider university. AMBS'S head, Fiona Devine, said that "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." Alliance's autobiography, ''A Bazaar Life'' (co-written with Ivan Fallon) was published in 2015.

Arms

References

External links

Lord Alliance
Liberal Democrats profile * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alliance, David 1932 births Living people British autobiographers British businesspeople British Jews British philanthropists British textile industry businesspeople British people of Iranian-Jewish descent Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Iranian Jews Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Iranian philanthropists Jewish British philanthropists Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Tel Aviv University people Jewish British politicians Knights Bachelor British politicians of Iranian descent British billionaires Life peers created by Elizabeth II