David Selves

Many corporate events, awards nights and fundraising dinners turn on the person at the front of the room. A weak host loses the audience inside ten minutes; a strong one carries energy through the running order, makes the panel sharper, and lifts the auction total. The skill is craft, not subject expertise.

David Selves is a broadcaster, after-dinner speaker and charity auctioneer who hosts, moderates and runs the room at corporate events, awards nights and fundraising dinners.

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Why organisations work with David Selves

He runs corporate events, awards ceremonies and fundraising dinners as the figure at the front of the room, with a 50-year track record across broadcasting, business and hospitality to draw on.
As a charity auctioneer, he has raised over £1 million for good causes, a tangible commercial outcome rather than a stage credit.
His business background, including roles as Regional Chairman and National Board Member of the Small Business Bureau, gives him a credible footing on panels with founders, investors and small-business audiences.
As Deputy Chairman of the London Press Club and a working broadcaster, he interviews with journalistic instinct, which makes him useful for on-stage Q&A with senior or politically sensitive guests.

Biography highlights

Founder of The Selves Group (1978), with interests across property, media, finance and leisure.
Former Regional Chairman and National Board Member of the Small Business Bureau.
Deputy Chairman of the London Press Club; founder of the London Grill Club.
Charity auctioneer credited with raising over £1 million for charitable causes.
Broadcaster on Radio Faversham, with a long-running interviewing practice.
Author of four fictional thrillers, including “Quentin – A Spy” and “The Noble Challenge”.

Biography

A long evening of speeches, an awards running order or a fundraising auction lives or dies on the person holding the room. The technical name for this is hosting craft, and it is a different discipline from keynote speaking. David Selves has built his career around it.

The career sits across banking, broadcasting, hospitality and small-business advocacy. He started as a management trainee at Midland Bank in 1969, founded The Selves Group in 1978, and has held senior positions at the Small Business Bureau as Regional Chairman and National Board Member. The London Press Club, where he is Deputy Chairman, and the London Grill Club, which he founded, anchor him in the working media community.

The auctioneering record is the clearest commercial proof point. Over £1 million raised for charitable causes places him among a small group of British fundraising auctioneers who can move a room and a paddle in equal measure. His broadcasting on Radio Faversham, and a long interviewing practice across business and political subjects, give him the ear and pacing that live hosting demands.

He also writes fiction, with four published thrillers including “Quentin – A Spy” and “The Noble Challenge”, a reminder that the working tools of the trade are language and timing.

Key speaking topics

After-dinner speaking
Awards hosting
Charity auctioneering and fundraising
Panel moderation and on-stage interviewing
Entrepreneurship and small business
Media and broadcasting

Ideal for

Corporate event organisers booking a host or master of ceremonies for awards nights, gala dinners or conference plenaries.
Charity development directors and fundraising leads are commissioning an auctioneer for a high-stakes appeal evening.
Communications and marketing leads needing a panel moderator for journalist-style on-stage interviews.
Small-business and entrepreneur networks are looking for an after-dinner speaker with operating credibility.

Audience outcomes

A running order that holds energy from welcome to close, rather than losing the room mid-evening.
A fundraising auction run with pacing and judgement, designed to lift the final total.
On-stage interviews with senior or politically sensitive guests are handled with journalistic instinct.
An after-dinner address that mixes humour with substantive commentary on business, media, or current affairs.

Available for

Speaking Themes

Languages

English

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Videos

Testimonials

Thank you for addressing our lunch yesterday. We have not laughed so much for a long time and Mr Wilson will no doubt be using the Brain Surgeon joke!

Mac McCarroll

Rotary Club of Brixton

Thank so much for bringing my year as President to such a wonderful end. Several people have said not just how much they enjoyed your speech, but that it was the best they have ever heard at this type of event.

Paul Smith

President, Sussex Insurance Institute

I do like his interview style and clearly, he is an intelligent man, a raconteur, and engages with the interviewee and the audience with ease.

John Kaufman

Right Recordings

What can I say about your performance as auctioneer at Eastwater House, except sheer brilliance!

Philippa Mack

Surrey Area Manager, The Save the Children Fund

Your performance last night surpassed your past successes, thank you so much. The evening made over £5,000 and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves, thanks to you. We are so grateful.

Janie Taylor

British Heart Foundation, Mid Sussex

This marvellous result is due in no small part to your expertise in extracting large sums of money from people without them seeming to realise it!

Joy Mayall

Friends of Tavistock & Summerhill School

Just a line to say how much all our Club members enjoyed your splendid talk last evening. On occasion, we have some amusing speakers and at other times some very articulate ones, but it is a rare pleasure to hear both from one person.

Fred Rudgley

Rotary Club of Waltham Abbey

Thank you so much for being with us last night and facilitating such a robust Q&A session at the 25th Tom Olsen Lecture. It was great to have someone with your experience in that position, as they have tended to get out of hand in the past!

James Irving

Head of Finance & Fundraising, St Bride’s Church, EC4

On behalf of the Trustees of Pakistan Human Development Fund UK and the National Commission for Human Development, we are deeply indebted to you for your performance last night. Thank you for helping to make the fundraising such a great success.

Farah Baldwin

Trustees of Pakistan Human Development Fund UK

There are simply no words that can express our thanks to you for compeering our Casino Evening on Saturday. The event raised over £5,000 for Multiple Sclerosis and so many people have said, rightly, that it was due largely to your superb professional performance. You are a marvelous entertainer, thank you.

Margaret Flint

The Quarter Day Charity Committee

The show couldn’t be what it is without you – so a big thank you. I was particularly delighted that you mentioned the Physic Garden and the Purifier Building which you know are both projects which mean much to me.

Gulliver Immink

Faversham Town Councillor