BOY DEN GOOD

LONDON. – He is the former England footballer who has netted big bucks outside of the sporting world thanks to savvy business moves.

Now Gary Neville, 48, is cementing his reputation and appeared on Dragons’ Den last night and he has impressed fellow investors.

Show regular Deborah Meaden said the ex-Manchester United star had “a really good business brain.”

“You’d think he had been a Dragon his entire life… He was fantastic, I’m not kidding you, and he’s prepared to invest.”

Aside from his work as a football commentator Gary, who retired from sport in 2011, oversees a broad £100million business empire, according to Companies House reports.

Gary has been listed as a director of 56 businesses on Companies House – and while he has interests in media, hotels, pubs, restaurants and education, his most impressive work has been in property development.

The footballer first got into property development in his early 20s and now has a chain of hotels and townhouses, as well as development projects.

Among the most high-profile interests are Stock Exchange Hotel and Hotel Football, which between them hold £32million in property assets – almost a third of his corporate net wealth.

The star owns a 40 per cent share in the Stock Exchange development, which is close to Piccadilly Gardens, in Manchester, alongside former teammate Ryan Giggs – and he also co-runs the luxurious Hotel Football, which overlooks Old Trafford. – The Sun