Gary Neville: from the pitch to the boardroom

Gary Neville is known to most as a football legend – a stalwart of Manchester United and England, a leader on the pitch, and now a respected pundit. But away from football, Neville has built a reputation as one of the UK’s most thoughtful and ambitious entrepreneurs.

From co-founding the University Academy 92 (UA92) in Manchester to launching successful hospitality and property ventures, Neville’s business credentials are increasingly commanding.

I caught up with Gary at one of his hotels in Manchester – a city he’s invested heavily in – to talk about the challenges facing small businesses, the crucial role of technology, and the mindset needed to grow something meaningful beyond the pitch.

“Let’s be honest,” Gary begins, “it’s hard work setting up a business. Anybody who does it, I admire – the courage, the risk, the grind. It takes smart decisions, relentless effort, and a bit of luck. Sometimes a lot of luck.”

It’s a typically grounded assessment. And one rooted in experience – Neville has juggled multiple ventures since retiring from football in 2011. He’s well-placed to observe the pressures facing entrepreneurs, and right now, he says, they’re mounting.

“COVID’s aftershocks are still being felt – especially in hospitality. Add in rising National Insurance, increased employment costs, and you’ve got real headwinds. Your biggest responsibility as a business owner is your people. But when the pressure’s on, you start cutting in places you shouldn’t. That’s the danger.”

One of the biggest risks to business, Neville warns, is inertia.

“So many people are sitting on their hands right now – waiting to see what happens with the economy. But that’s not good. You have to keep moving forward. And in today’s world, that means embracing tech.”

He’s frank about the state of digital adoption among SMEs. “We’re still lacking skills programmes, proper upskilling. People get stuck in their ways – they fear the cost or complexity of changing systems. But in the long run, clinging to outdated processes is far more costly.”

At UA92, the university he co-founded, “digital competence” is one of 11 founding principles. “In 2025, you can’t survive in most jobs without understanding tech – from data to automation. That applies in every sector: education, real estate, media, sport.”

While Neville isn’t dogmatic about technology, he’s clear-eyed about its utility – particularly when it comes to reducing admin.

“One of my most-asked questions to mentors is: how do you manage your lists? Your action plans? The endless tasks? Everyone’s juggling a lot – emails, meetings, travel, documents. You can lose sight of what really matters.”

Neville describes a moment with a highly successful business contact: “He pulled out this old scrapbook – literally hundreds of tiny notes, ticked off line by line. His assistant had a matching sheet. It was brilliant. But for me, moving to digital tools – ones that can sync, be shared, and archived – has been a game-changer.”

Yet he doesn’t pretend to have it all figured out. “We’re all still perfecting it. I wouldn’t say I’m a tech evangelist. But I know enough to see its value. If you want resilience in a business, if you want to scale, you can’t do it with paper trails and memory.”

The government’s Making Tax Digital initiative is pushing more SMEs to adopt e-invoicing and online bookkeeping. Neville sees that shift as long overdue.

“You still see contracts coming through with hundreds of pages to initial. We’ve gone beyond that now. Invoicing, contracts, signatures – these things have to be digital. We can’t afford delays, lost paperwork, or inefficient systems anymore.”

But again, he empathises with the barriers. “People don’t like change. And unravelling systems you’ve used for decades is intimidating. But you’ve got to bite the bullet. If you don’t, you’ll fall behind.”

Neville’s business life hasn’t been without setbacks. The failed St Michael’s development in Manchester, for example, faced years of delays. But he’s candid about failure being a part of the process.

“If you’re setting up lots of businesses, some won’t work out. It’s a fact. The key is learning fast – not repeating mistakes. Startups are hard. They take time, energy, personal investment. Often people risk their home, their savings, their security. That deserves massive respect.”

Given his glittering football career, I ask Neville how he defines success in business.

“For me, it’s simple. If the people consuming your product are happy – and the team delivering it are happy – you’ve got a great chance of success.”

He’s quick to say profit matters. But passion, purpose, and people rank higher. “It has to be something I care about. Something that means something to the community it’s in. And I need the team to feel invested too.”

That mindset shapes his approach to everything – from student wellbeing at UA92 to guest experience in his hotels. “If both sides – your customer and your staff – feel supported, you’re on the right path.”

“I’ll always remember when the Vice Chancellor at Lancaster University told me: ‘You do realise there’s no exit?’ That stuck with me. Some of my businesses – I know I’ll be part of them for the long haul. They carry my name, my values. So success isn’t a one-off. It’s about sustaining things – year on year.”

Asked what separates the elite – in sport or business – Neville doesn’t hesitate.

“Talent, yes. But work ethic, even more. The highest performers I’ve seen are obsessive. They’re relentless. They think about their job all day. Everything they do – how they eat, sleep, train – it’s all geared towards performance.”

It’s a high bar. But one he lives by.

I end by asking the best advice he’s ever received.

He smiles. “It came from my dad: Don’t look back and wish you could have done more. That’s it. Take the risks. Make the effort. Do the hard things now, so you’ve got no regrets later.”

For Gary Neville, business success isn’t about headlines or exits. It’s about building things that last – and doing so with purpose, resilience, and care. From the football pitch to the boardroom, those values have never wavered.

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Gary Neville: from the pitch to the boardroom