{{Short description|British businessman and politician (1932–2025)}} {{Use British English|date=July 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = The Lord Alliance | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} | image = The Lord Alliance.jpg | caption = | office1 = Member of the House of Lords | status1 = Lord Temporal | term_label1 = Life peerage | term_start1 = 1 July 2004 | term_end1 = 21 March 2025 | birth_name = Davoud Alliance | birth_date = {{Birth date|1932|6|15|df=y}} | birth_place = Kashan, Persia | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|7|18|1932|6|15|df=y}} | death_place = | party = Liberal Democrats | spouse = {{plainlist| * Alma Joseph * {{marriage|Homa Alliance|1982}} }} | relatives = Nigel Alliance OBE | children = 3 | occupation = Non-Executive Chairman, <br /> N Brown Group | blank1 = Net worth | data1 = {{increase}} £500&nbsp;million (2018)<ref name="manchestereveningnews">{{cite web|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/greater-manchester-richest-people-cheshire-14646026|title=These are the richest people in Greater Manchester and Cheshire - Manchester Evening News|date= 12 May 2018|publisher=manchestereveningnews.co.uk|access-date=19 November 2022}}</ref> }}

'''David Alliance, Baron Alliance''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} ({{langx|fa|داوود آلیانس}},<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/business/story/2004/04/printable/040418_mf_richlist.shtml|title=BBC Persian|publisher=bbc.co.uk|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref> {{langx|he|דייוויד אליאנס}}; 15 June 1932 – 18 July 2025) was an Iranian businessman and Liberal Democrat politician.

==Early life== David (originally Davoud) Alliance was born in Kashan, Iran, to a Jewish family<ref name="JC2015">{{cite web| url = https://www.thejc.com/culture/books/a-textile-titan-s-tale-1.65319| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180415190449/https://www.thejc.com/culture/books/a-textile-titan-s-tale-1.65319| archive-date = 2018-04-15| title = A textile titan's tale |website= The Jewish Chronicle|first=Andrew|last= Rosemarine|date=20 February 2015}}</ref> 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.

==Honours== Alliance was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1984 New Year Honours<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49583 |date=31 December 1983 |page=8 |supp=y}}</ref> and in the 1989 New Year Honours<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=51578 |date=30 December 1988 |page=1 |supp=y}}</ref> received a knighthood, the honour being bestowed 9 February 1989.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=51720 |date=2 May 1989 |page=5227}}</ref> He was created a life peer as ''Baron Alliance, of Manchester in the County of Greater Manchester'', on 1 July 2004,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=57346 |date=6 July 2004 |page=8399}}</ref> and sat on the Liberal Democrat benches until his retirement on 21 March 2025.

==Career== Alliance owned 33% and was chairman of N Brown Group plc, a clothing catalogue 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 £2&nbsp;billion textile business. Alliance was also one of the primary investors of the web measurement company SimilarWeb.<ref name="reuters">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/internet-measurement-idUSL6N0RT0Y020140929?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews|title=SimilarWeb unifies mapping of mobile and computer Web &#124; Reuters|date=29 September 2014|work=Reuters|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref>

Lord Alliance served on several committees, including the Prince's Youth Business Trust, Council for Industry and Higher Education, and the University of Manchester Foundation, and the Weizmann Institute. He was a senior trustee of the Next Century Foundation. He served on the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University in Israel.<ref name="tau">{{cite web|url=https://english.tau.ac.il/tau_governors_roll |title=Tel Aviv University Governors Roll &#124; Tel Aviv University |date=31 October 2012 |publisher=english.tau.ac.il|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref>

Lord Alliance held a Doctorate of Science at Heriot-Watt University and a Legum Doctor (Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa) from the University of Manchester. He was once an Honorary Fellow of UMIST as there was no UMIST anymore after the merger.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ward |first=David |date=2004-10-22 |title=Merger creates UK's biggest university |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/oct/22/highereducation.universitymergers |access-date=2023-12-21 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Alliance received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|title=Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates|last=|website=www1.hw.ac.uk|access-date=2016-04-04|archive-date=18 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418163907/http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Between 1984 and 1991, Lord Alliance was instrumental in the rescue of the Ethiopian Jews out of Sudan and Ethiopia by bringing them to Israel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/africa-travel/south-africa/jews-for-money-saving-the-beta-israel-of-ethiopia-b8mkr0g2p5p|title=Jews for money . . . saving the Beta Israel of Ethiopia|last=Alliance|first=David|date=2015-02-04|work=The Times|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref name="JC2015" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/dramatic-rescue-of-20000-ethiopian-jews-retold-in-bbc-film/|title=Dramatic rescue of 20,000 Ethiopian Jews retold in BBC film|work=Jewish News|first=Francine|last=Wolfisz|date=December 9, 2015|access-date=2018-06-12|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Wealth== In the ''Sunday Times Rich List 2015'' ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, Alliance was placed with an estimated fortune of £3.1&nbsp;billion.<ref name="timesonline">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/richlist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060112045855/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/richlist/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 January 2006 |title=Sunday Times Rich List 2009 |newspaper=The Times|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref> After his elevation to the peerage in 2004, he gave the Liberal Democrats £668,872 in donations, plus an additional £20,996.56 in notional interest on loans he has made to the party.<ref>Electoral Commission register of donors – http://registers.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/regdpoliticalparties.cfm?ec={ts%20'06{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} February 2011%2005:08:14'}</ref>

Alliance owned a home in Didsbury, Manchester and a mock-Georgian mansion in St John's Wood, an affluent area of northwest London. He also owned a collection of Lowry paintings.<ref name="manchestereveningnews2">{{cite web|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/160/160594_12_lord_david_alliance_226m_216m.html |title=12. Lord David Alliance: £226m (£216m) - Manchester Evening News |date=July 2005 |publisher=manchestereveningnews.co.uk|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref>

In 2012, Tel Aviv University established an Iranian Studies Centre, named after Lord Alliance.<ref name="page2rss">{{cite web|url=http://page2rss.com/ba9fcc0cd7543d20cb6ba7864a7277a7|title=מרכז אליאנס ללימודים איראניים - Page2RSS|publisher=page2rss.com|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref>

In September 2015, Manchester Business School was renamed in Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) in honour 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."<ref name="manchestereveningnews3">{{cite web|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/manchester-business-school-renamed-following-10110839|title=Manchester Business School renamed following £15m donation from Lord Alliance - Manchester Evening News|date=23 September 2015|publisher=manchestereveningnews.co.uk|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref>

==Autobiography== Alliance's autobiography, ''A Bazaar Life'' (co-written with Ivan Fallon), was published in 2015.<ref name="AllianceFallon2015">{{cite book|author1=David Alliance|author2=Ivan Fallon|author3=Peter Mandelson|title=A Bazaar Life: The Autobiography of David Alliance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypY6BgAAQBAJ|date=5 February 2015|publisher=Biteback Publishing|isbn=978-1-84954-878-6}}</ref>

==Personal life and death== Alliance had three children and eight grandchildren and split his time between Manchester and London.

He died on 18 July 2025, at the age of 93.<ref>[https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/lord-alliance-passes-away-at-93/ Lord Alliance passes away at 93] Jewish News</ref>

==Arms== {{Infobox COA wide |image = centre|150pxcentre|200px |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. |crest = 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. |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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2019}}</ref>}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111002065514/http://www.nickclegg.com/peers_detail.aspx?name=Lord_Alliance&pPK=56d74edd-cd50-483f-bfb2-a6051ae3f671 Lord Alliance] Liberal Democrats profile * {{UK Peer links | parliament = david-alliance/32308 | hansard = mr-david-alliance | hansardcurr = | guardian = | publicwhip = Lord_Alliance | theywork = lord_alliance | record = David-Alliance/1917 | bbc = 32308.stm | journalisted = }} * {{IMDb name| 8696668}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alliance, Baron David}} Category:1932 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century Iranian Jews Category:21st-century Iranian Jews Category:20th-century British businesspeople Category:21st-century British businesspeople Category:21st-century British autobiographers Category:People from Kashan Category:British philanthropists Category:British businesspeople in the textile industry Category:British people of Iranian-Jewish descent Category:Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Iranian philanthropists Category:Jewish British philanthropists Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Category:Tel Aviv University people Category:Jewish British politicians Category:Knights Bachelor Category:British billionaires Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II Category:Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods