He was educated at Sherborne School, before reading history at Pembroke College, Cambridge University.
[4] After working in the US as a banker for JP Morgan between 1985 and 1988, he founded Daunt Books in 1990,[6] a chain of six bookshops in London.
[2] In May 2011, he was appointed managing director of Waterstones by the company's new owner, the Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut.
[9][10] In June 2019, he became the CEO of the US bookshop chain Barnes & Noble,[11] acquired by Waterstones' parent, Elliott Advisors (UK) for $683m.
[14] Daunt was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to publishing.