Emeritus Professor David Storey, OBE

David Storey OBE and Emeritus Professor for the Department of Strategy and Marketing at the University of Sussex Business School has died.

David was highly acclaimed internationally in the field of business management, with a focus primarily on public policy, access to finance, and the survival and non-survival of new firms.

Undertaking work for many overseas governments and organisations, David acted as consultant to the governments of Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Denmark, and Sweden. More recently he was a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Committee inquiry into Post Pandemic Economic Growth.

David Storey was a leading researcher, expert and author in entrepreneurship and small business. His research and findings have been published in all the leading Entrepreneurship and Small Business journals, with his book ‘Understanding the Small Business Sector’ being ranked ninth place overall in the Entrepreneurship “core works”, the highest place for a scholar with no US affiliations, leading him to become the highest ranked non-US scholar in Entrepreneurship, as reported Hans Landstrom et al, in Research Policy 2012.

David was awarded an OBE for services to business in 2010, and in 2022 was elected as Fellow of the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences, for his contribution to business and management studies. He was the first and only faculty member of the Business School to be awarded an Academy Fellowship since its creation.

David graduated with a First Class Degree in Economics, a Diploma in Applied Statistics, and a PhD in Economics. He had two honorary Doctorates and was Visiting Professor at the Universities of Manchester, Reading and Durham, as well as an International Fellow at Sydney University in 2009.

Between 2001 and 2005 he was appointed by the UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry as a Member of the Small Business Council, advising the government on small business policy-making.

In 1998 he received the International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research from the Swedish Council. In 2008 he was awarded a Wilford White fellowship from the International Council for Small Business (ICSB). He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) and was founder and director of the Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises at Warwick Business School.

David was central to the development of the Business School. He led on the development of the School's first REF submission in 2014. As part of that, he worked tirelessly to develop colleagues' careers. His dedicated mentorship enabled many of our staff to enjoy great success and recognition in their research.

Steve McGuire, Dean of the Business School and long standing colleague of David said:

“I am greatly saddened by the news of David’s death. In a business school full of brilliant academics, David was one of our best. He influenced policy for SMEs and economic development in the UK. He was also a generous and kind person and, speaking personally, he was a mentor to me when I first started my deanship.

"Outside work, we shared a passion for cricket and David would look to attend a few Sussex CC matches. We have lost a distinguished scholar and a wonderful colleague and friend. On behalf of David’s colleagues at the Business School, I would like to pass on my sincere condolences to David’s family, friends and all those that knew him.”