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David Fishwick
David Fishwick's appearance on James English's Anything Goes podcast in April 2023
BornMarch 1971 (age 53)
Nelson, Lancashire, England
Occupations
  • Businessperson
  • Media personality

David Fishwick (born March 1971) is an English businessman. Born in Nelson, Lancashire, he left school at sixteen with no qualifications, before opening David Fishwick Minibus Sales and becoming the biggest minibus supplier in Britain. After finding that big banks were no longer willing to lend his customers money following the 2007–2008 financial crisis, he opened Burnley Savings and Loans, which used the advertising slogan "Bank on Dave".

His efforts were documented in the 2012-2013 Channel 4 series Bank of Dave. After finding that customers were coming to him having tangled with payday loan firms, he investigated the industry for the 2014 Channel 4 series Dave: Loan Ranger. Both of these Channel 4 series won British Academy Scotland Awards. His efforts at setting up a bank were loosely adapted for the 2023 film Bank of Dave.

Life and career

Early life and automotives

Fishwick was born in March 1971.[1] He grew up in a poor family on John Street in Nelson, Lancashire, and attended Edge End High School, both of which were later demolished.[a] He left school at sixteen with no qualifications,[4] and took a Youth Training Scheme course at a construction site for £27.50 per week plus overtime,[5] where he pebbledashed buildings.[2] After a day's work, he and his co-workers would visit the local fish and chip shop[2] in Hallam Road in Nelson;[5] he told Holly Mead of The Times in June 2024 that his dinners at the time comprised a chip butty, and that he wanted but could not afford steak pudding, chips, peas and gravy.[2] He decided he wanted to no longer be poor after an incident at that shop aged sixteen in which he discovered after ordering that he was three pence short, prompting the cashier to bin a handful of his already salted and vinegared chips.[5]

"I went around all the garages and I found one that had some old part exchanges and I said, “Could I take that old part exchange away? I’ll clean it up. I’ll scrub it off. I’ll sell it. I’ll advertise it and I’ll bring you back an agreed amount of money, and the difference is mine. I eventually found a garage that agreed, and I agreed to give them £70 for this [Vauxhall] Cavalier when I sold it. I took it away, scrubbed it up, sold it for £97 so I made £27 profit. I repeated that process to the point where I could negotiate a better deal and could pay upfront, and that’s how it started."

Fishwick speaking to The Daily Telegraph in February 2023[6]

After finding that he wanted to enter the UK automotive industry, he went from garage to garage asking if he could have a part-exchanged car to restore and sell in exchange for some of the profits.[6] His first part-exchange was a Vauxhall Cavalier that had flat tires and lots of scratches, which he advertised in the local paper for £100 and sold for £97.[2] He repeated this process until he could afford to buy upfront,[6] and would stuff his wallet with paper to make himself appear richer to prospective sellers.[5] Around this time, he would also spend his mornings selling cheap clothes for a profit and his evenings DJing; he met his future wife while working at a nightclub after she told him his music was rubbish and he told her she could pick a record so long as she wrote her phone number on its sleeve.[2]

Fishwick then diversified into refurbishing vans after being given a red Astramax van to refurbish, and then into minibuses for the same reason.[5] He switched exclusively to vans, minibuses, and minicoaches in 1994, and opened David Fishwick Minibus Sales,[7] which had sites in Colne, Birmingham, and Stockport.[8] He later became the biggest minibus supplier in Britain.[9] Between 2004[10] and 2017, the firm sponsored Burnley F.C., during which time the club's Turf Moor stadium's Cricket Field Stand was named the David Fishwick Stand.[11] In 2005, having bought a helicopter for his own use and finding that others were asking if they could borrow it, Fishwick opened a helicopter business, which provided charter flights.[12]

Bank of Dave and Loan Ranger

In 2008, after the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Fishwick found that big banks had stopped lending his customers money, posing an existential threat to his business.[9] After lending his own money on his own terms, and after no borrowers defaulted on their payments during the first six months, he looked into setting up a bank himself, where he discovered that although obtaining a consumer credit license was simple enough, obtaining a deposit-taking license required a minimum of £10,000,000 to be kept in reserve[9] under Financial Conduct Authority regulations.[13] He later opened Burnley Savings and Loans in September 2011 in that town centre's Keirby Walk using a peer-to-peer crowdfunding model, with "Bank on Dave" emblazoned on the front of the shop as an advertising slogan.[4]

Fishwick's efforts were immortalised in the Channel 4 series Bank of Dave,[9] which aired two episodes in July 2012.[14] The series was released at the same time as a memoir, Bank of Dave: How I Took on the Banks.[15] Reviewing the second episode, Alex Hardy of The Times described the show as "some of the most joyous TV seen this year" and opined that Fishwick "could have been one of the best comedy characters of 2012".[16] A subsequent episode, Bank of Dave: Fighting the Fat Cats, was broadcast in February 2013,[17] and won an award for the best feature and factual entertainment programme at the 2013 British Academy Scotland Awards.[18]

David Fishwick's appearance on James English's Anything Goes podcast in April 2023

The following year, after finding that young people were coming to him after falling into a spiral of debt after getting involved with payday loan firms and that said firms were lending to people who were underage, mentally ill, and even drunk, he fronted Dave: Loan Ranger, in which he investigated the industry.[19] Originally intended for autumn 2013, the show was delayed until January 2014 for legal reasons.[20] Upon broadcast, the show won Best Current Affairs Programme at the 2014 British Academy Scotland Awards.[21]

In mid-2020, Fishwick was approached by Piers Ashworth, who was interested in making a film about his bank's story.[22] He granted permission for this on the condition that it was shot in Burnley, where many of the events took place.[23] The film was released in January 2023 by Netflix as the semi-autobiographical film Bank of Dave,[4] and was the ninth most searched film that year.[24] A sequel, announced that April,[25] is set for January 2025,[26] and was loosely based on his experiences with the payday loan industry.[27] In June 2024, Jason Manford stated that he was in talks to star in a musical version of Bank of Dave.[28]

Other media appearances

In 2013, he appeared on The Secret Millions, in which he and a group of teenagers[29] who had suffered challenging upbringings such as homelessness or addiction attempted to open a employment agency.[30] That May, alongside Loan Ranger, Channel 4 announced Fishwick Out of Water, a six-part series intended for 2014 in which Fishwick was dropped blindfolded into a random UK town with a pound and challenged to make a fortune.[31] In 2015, he presented "Can Property Pay Your Wages", in which he advised members of the public on how to make money through property,[32] and then the consumer series Shoppers Guide to Saving Money, which he co-presented with Kate Quilton.[33]

In 2017, he appeared in "Dave's Guide to Spending", a documentary in which he explored supply chain costs and launched a brand of bottled water.[34] That July, it was announced that he would film a six-part series for Channel 4 called How to Get Rich Quick.[35] Upon broadcast in July 2018, Peter Crawley of The Irish Times wrote that the show "encourages people of modest means to pursue equally modest dreams in the very modest hopes, several weeks of hard work later, of doubling their modest investments".[36] In 2020, he appeared on a week of episodes of Your Money And Your Life, a daytime consumer show presented by Matt Allwright and Kym Marsh.[37] He declined invitations to appear on 2023's series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here![38] and the 2024 series of Strictly Come Dancing, both times due to work commitments.[39]

Notes

  1. ^
    • For John Street, see [2].
    • For Edge End, see.[3]

References

  1. ^ Cannon, Nicholas (2023-01-15). "Bank Of Dave — release date, cast, plot, first looks, trailer and everything we know". whattowatch.com. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Mead, Holly (2024-06-21). "Dave Fishwick: My helicopter was once the Duke of Westminster's". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  3. ^ "Final bell for Nelson school". Lancashire Telegraph. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  4. ^ a b c Ross, Deborah (2023-01-18). "Formulaic and untrue: Bank of Dave reviewed". The Spectator. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  5. ^ a b c d e Anything Goes With James English (2023-04-20). The Bank of Dave Fighting Against the Elite - David Fishwick Tells His Story. Retrieved 2024-06-22 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ a b c McGrath, Nick (2023-02-12). "'I like that the big banks hate me – they do nothing to help the public'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  7. ^ "Overseas 'spares' supply takes off". Lancashire Telegraph. 2006-09-18. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  8. ^ "Count US in says David!". Lancashire Telegraph. 2005-12-30. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  9. ^ a b c d Collinson, Patrick (2012-07-06). "Bank on Dave: one man's crusade to help small businesses raise finance". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  10. ^ "Clarets Fishing for new sponsor". Lancashire Telegraph. 2004-07-13. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  11. ^ "Turf Moor stand sponsorship comes to an end". Burnley Express. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Sky's the limit for David". Lancashire Telegraph. 2005-10-26. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  13. ^ Fishwick, Dave (2012-07-12). "Why I opened the 'Bank' of Dave". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  14. ^ "Are you ready for second episode of 'Bank of Dave'?". Burnley Express. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  15. ^ Wigley, Lucy (2023-01-16). "Bank of Dave true story: Remarkable inspiration behind the Netflix film". GoodTo. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  16. ^ Hardy, Alex (20 July 2012). "Last Night's TV: Bank of Dave". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  17. ^ "Bank of Dave: Fighting the Fat Cats". Time Out. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  18. ^ "'Bank of Dave' star bags BAFTA award". Burnley Express. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Dave Fishwick takes on pay-day loan firms". Burnley Express. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  20. ^ "Julian Knight: Poorest foot the bill while payday lenders cash in". The Independent. 2014-01-18. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  21. ^ "BAFTA delight for Dave Fishwick". Burnley Express. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  22. ^ "From Bond to Bank of Dave - Hollywood star to play Burnley businessman in new Netflix film". Lancashire Telegraph. 2022-02-10. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  23. ^ "'Bank of Dave' millionaire told Netflix he'd only do a biopic if it was filmed in Burnley - LancsLive". www.lancs.live. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  24. ^ "Google: Barbie and Shakira among most searched in 2023". BBC News. 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  25. ^ "Netflix confirms unexpected Bank of Dave sequel". Digital Spy. 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  26. ^ Welch, Andy (2024-08-17). "Rory Kinnear: 'I congratulate everyone who is on the brink of baldness'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  27. ^ "Bank of Dave founder says Netflix film sequel is 'dead exciting'". BBC News. 2024-05-21. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  28. ^ Richardson, Jay (2024-06-19). "Jason Manford in talks to star in 'Bank Of Dave: The Musical'". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  29. ^ "Braintree: Secret Millions teen describes how he turned his life around". Braintree and Witham Times. 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  30. ^ "Burnley 'Bank of Dave' star to appear on 'The Secret Millions'". Burnley Express. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Burnley 'Bank of Dave' star David Fishwick to front two new Channel 4 shows". Lancashire Telegraph. 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  32. ^ "Dave Fishwick's 'Can Property Pay Your Wages' on TV". Burnley Express. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  33. ^ Stubbs, David; Virtue, Graeme; Catterall, Ali; Gibbings-Jones, Mark; Davies, Hannah J.; Raeside, Julia; Mueller, Andrew; Howlett, Paul (2015-11-09). "Monday's best TV: London Spy, The Shoppers' Guide To Saving Money, Fargo". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  34. ^ "Entrepreneur Dave returns to TV screens". Burnley Express. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Dave Fishwick to film new six-part show How To Get Rich Quick". Lancashire Telegraph. 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  36. ^ "How to Get Rich Quick: 'Can you hear it?'... 'Ka-ching!'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  37. ^ "Bank of Dave gives viewers money tips on new BBC One daytime TV show". Lancashire Telegraph. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  38. ^ "Burnley's Dave Fishwick 'politely declines' I'm a Celeb offer due to full diary". Lancashire Telegraph. 2023-11-11. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  39. ^ "East Lancs Netflix star breaks silence on Strictly Come Dancing appearance". Lancashire Telegraph. 2024-06-30. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
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