[1] The seventh child of an architect-turned-builder who was 64 when David was born, his father was one of the first civilian casualties killed in London at the start of the Luftwaffe air raids during the Second World War.
On gaining his chartered membership, he volunteered to be posted to Cape Town, South Africa, working on financial audits for Rhodesian copper mines and Zambian sawmills.
[1] At the start of the Second World War, due to the death of his father he decided to avoid the heavy conflict in Europe and joined the South African Navy.
[3] In 1987, Ashcroft bought out the existing shareholders of BCA via Hawley Goodall, and closed down Wickins treasured aviation division, which flew both Jet Ranger helicopters and Beechcraft King Air turbo prop aircraft.
The company initially had offices at the Frimley Bridges site, but later moved to purpose-built premises at Blackbushe Airport, Yateley, where the aviation division was based.
Employing 160 at its head office, Wickins had built the company into the largest car auction business in the world by the time of his retirement in 1990.
Led by Alan Curtis (Chairman of Aston Martin), the group consisted of Wickins, Peter Cadbury, Lord George-Brown and the Norwest construction.
The consortia commissioned William Towns to design an updated MG MGB, which was produced at Newport Pagnell in six days, ready for the publicity presentation.
After bringing in other investors and negotiating with the Inland Revenue, he oversaw a turnaround in the sports car manufacturer's fortunes, which resulted in him being called "The saviour of Lotus".
[6] But civil servants, with advising merchant bankers and commercial accountants, considered that at least £1 million was required to save the company and reconstruct it.
Controlled by Ashcroft's Hawley Goodall, Henlys was merged with funeral hearse makers Coleman Milne to form a Motoring Division.
In 1989, Hawley Goodall sold its Motoring Division consisting of Henlys and Coleman Milne to the Plaxton Group, the bus and coach manufacturer based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.