Born in Sri Lanka, Des grew up in London and trained in finance, before meeting Sir Terence Conran in 1991. Their partnership transformed Conran Holdings into a global restaurant, retail, hotel and design group with annual revenues of circa £150m. In 2006, Des led a private equity-backed buyout of Conran Restaurants, which he evolved into D&D London, the luxury restaurant group that has opened German Gymnasium, 14 Hills, and 20 Stories and Queensyard in New York. After leading D&D London for 16 years, Des announced his new venture D3 Collective in 2023, a collection of individual restaurants collaborating with different investors, chefs and restaurateurs.