Bank of Dave millionaire still has corned beef for dinner and says wife keeps him humble
A Burnley bloke who left school at 16 with no qualifications is now a self-made millionaire who flies his own chopper – while still saying humble.
Dave Fishwick made a fortune selling minibuses and now drives a Range Rover – but admits his life isn’t all about glitz and glamour.
He told us his wife keeps him grounded by dishing up no frills suppers like corned beef and cottage pies.
READ MORE: Inside tiny Brit town where 435 different people have all won the lottery
The dad, who set up his own community bank after the 2008 financial crisis, captured the hearts of the nation when Netflix released a biopic chronicling his extraordinary life.
Bank of Dave shot up to number 1 on the streaming service – and Daily Star recently caught up with the shrewd businessman to find out more.
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(Image: Dave Fishwick)
Dave spoke to us his Lancashire home, where parts of the Netflix movie starring James Bond star Rory Kennear were filmed.
And the proud Northerner was asked what kept him down to earth.
“Without a shadow of doubt my wife,” he said. “We have been together for 28 years, she is far too good for me, so she keeps telling me.
“And when I have been away somewhere, down for a big meeting or a TV event or I am filming something and I come home and say ‘oh I saw so and so’ and she will say ‘never mind that nonsense Dave, do you want corned beef hash or cottage pie for tea’ and it grounds you immediately.”
His wife, Nicola, was a bio scientist and they met three decades ago when she turned up one day to Dave’s car garage.
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(Image: MCPIX/REX/Shutterstock)
They now have two kids together and David continued: “She has no interest in money whatsoever, we have a wonderful life and she is not interested in going out and spending every day or anything.
“She is not like that and it really keeps me grounded.”
All profits made from Bank of Dave, formally known as Burnley Savings and Loans, are donated back to the community.
And in recent weeks Dave paid for an industrial toaster and a year’s supply of food for a local school after the head teacher told him kids were coming in hungry.
Pressed on why he was still so keen to use his riches to help others, he said: “The thing about money, once you get a certain amount you have all you need.
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(Image: Dave Fishwick)
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(Image: Netflix / Paul Stephenson)
“Once you can pay the bills and you can do the things you need to do, anything after is just extra.
“For me, the most wealthy people or successful people end up climbing up a tree and hiding from everybody and not telling anyone any secrets.
“But I think if you have already got what you need, why do you need to go and hide? Why don’t you just tell other people how to do it…
“Me and my wife are going to spend the rest of our years, however long that is, trying to make a difference and we get a real kick out of it.
“I go into places we help, like bird sanctuaries, and you think, do you know what, we’ve made a difference.
“Sometimes they don’t even know that we’ve put money there, there’s a lot that don’t. It just gives you a feel good feeling in the morning.”
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(Image: CAMERA PRESS/Alan Towse)
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(Image: Netflix)
Dave said the reaction to the new film, which trended number one on Netflix, had been “amazing”.
And he hopes the feel good biopic, written by Piers Ashworth who scripted Mission Impossible, will inspire others.
He said: “If you put your mind to it you can do anything. I’m just a lad from Burnley who sells a few buses.
“I left school at 16 and was absolutely useless. I had no qualifications whatsoever. I was on a building site as a builder’s labourer on £27.50 a week.
“How do you go from that to building the first high street bank in over 120 years? If this movie can do anything I would love it to inspire others, your readers and your viewers.
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(Image: Getty Images for Netflix)
“If you think about going for a new job, or maybe thinking about going for an upgrade on the job you’ve got or going for a promotion or maybe they are thinking of starting a little business, cafe or pub, whatever they want to do, tomorrow morning make it happen.
“Just think you know what, if Dave can do it, anybody can. Because I am useless, I just sell buses, that’s all I do.”
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