John David Burns was born in May 1944. According to Burns, he entered estate agency on the advice of his mother, "My mother said it was a very gentlemanly business, which it was at the time and still is today, to a degree." He trained as a chartered surveyor.
In 1961, Burns joined Hillier Parker as a property negotiator. In 1974, he became a senior partner in the estate agency Pilcher Hershman, a position which he still holds. In 1984, Burns was looking for a shell company to manage his property interests and chose the Derwent Valley Light Railway Company, which was then the owner of a few disused railway stations and valued at £1.5m.
This became Derwent London, with Burns as its Chief Executive Officer.
