Co-owner of Carphone Warehouse invests over £11 million in the Midlands

ITV Central News spoke to David Ross, one of the co-owners of the Carphone Warehouse and one of the Midlands most successful businessmen.

David invited ITV Central into his home to discuss his art, education trust and Nevill Holt Opera Festival.

David, born in 1965, has committed £10 million to Nottingham University, £250,000 to the reburial of Richard III and £1.4 million to a Magna Carta Vault in Lincoln.

He recently announced that he is stepping down from the chair of his education trust DRET and handing the responsibility over to David Blunkett. Blunkett is a former Secretary of State for Education, so Ross believes that he will "bring quite a lot" to the role.

David admits that his life has changed since starting the Carphone Warehouse 25 years ago. Throughout his early years, he said that it was his father and grandfather who inspired his, as they were all entrepreneurs.

David told ITV how he purchased Nevill Holt Hall, a previous hunting lodge where the Nevill family resided for 400 years, and made it into a home that can also inspire others.

He boasts an impressive art collection, which focuses on British artists and pictures that have been painted within David's lifetime.

David is also proud of the Nevill Hold Opera Festival which he founded, as he believes that it is "brilliant to support the arts and give best of young british talent an opportunity".

David supports the East Midlands by sponsoring several academies in the area.

He added that to improve education for children, we need to focus on academic rigour in order to encourage students and to give them a thorough curriculum.