David Whatman started his career in law in 1977 as a trainee Magistrate, then Magistrate and Senior Magistrate, leaving the Ministry of Justice at the end of 1986 as a Provincial Magistrate. He obtained his Bachelor of Law (Honours) degree from the University of Zimbabwe in 1981 and has been a registered legal practitioner, conveyancer and Notary Public since 1985. He spent two years as a partner in a legal firm before joining commerce with the Nedlaw Group in 1988.
He held a number of General Manager and then Managing Director posts within the manufacturing businesses in that Group and then joined Deloitte & Touché Management Consultants as Principal management consultant, where he gathered valuable experience in accounting, tax and corporate finance matters.
He was then Managing Director of Tedco Industries for two years before joining Pelhams Limited as Chief Operating Officer, then Chief Executive and a significant shareholder for 13 years. In that period, the company grew from 8 stores to become Zimbabwe’s largest furniture retailer, listing it on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange with over 40 stores. He was then promoted to Group Chief Executive of the new Group holding company with responsibility for some 22 retail, construction, insurance and manufacturing companies/investments of that Group. In May 2009, he joined a regional civil construction business as Group Chief Executive Officer, before spending some time as a consultant to a number of companies, whilst also conducting commercial arbitration appointments.
In July 2014, David returned to full-time legal practice as a partner in an established firm and headed the corporate advisory side of that practice. David’s focus is on acquisitions, mergers, transaction structuring, investments, shareholder disputes, separations and dissolution as well as bespoke commercial work, meeting the individual needs of specialised transactions and agreements.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and a member of the panels of arbitrators of the ICC [International Chamber of Commerce and International Court of Arbitration], AFSA Internatonal Panel [Arbitration Foundation of South Africa] and the Zimbabwe Commercial Arbitration Centre.
He is the former founding Chairman of Ecobank Zimbabwe Holdings and Ecobank Zimbabwe Limited, a former board member of the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority. He continues to chair a number of commercial company boards.
