Padraic was an inspirational leader for us all. He grew up in Ireland, the son of the famous Irish poet, also called Padraic, and was educated there, finishing his education at Trinity College, Dublin. He worked for Sir Patrick Sergeant at the Daily Mail but moved to Euromoney and became the editor of the magazine in 1974 at the age of 28.
He then moved from journalism to running the business, becoming an executive director in 1975, managing director in 1985 and chairman in 1992. He was a director of DMGT, and worked for the Mail Group including Euromoney for over 40 years.
Padraic was EuroWeek’s founder. At the outset a shambolic operation which at one point managed to set fire to Euromoney headquarters, EuroWeek survived due to his firm determination to see the paper through to success. It was entirely characteristic of the man: he was entrepreneurial, determined, mercurial, loyal, a visionary and a risk-taker.
Stickler
He was a stickler for good writing and had a copy editor’s eye for detail — his title of chairman and chief executive was supplemented by editor-in-chief, a position he took very seriously. He created the Euromoney style guide (with the help of a few others), which was required reading for all employees, especially the graduate trainees in whom he took great interest.
He hated sloppy or careless reporting. Before the days of email, editors would often find in their pigeonholes memos from the chairman, pointing out, in thick black fountain pen ink, typo howlers, style guide transgressions or lazy headlines and standfirsts.
But he would also be the first to back his editors and journalists — as long as what they wrote was fair and accurate — and fight their corner against the bullying tactics of aggrieved bankers.
He believed that financial journalism should be no different from any other form of journalism — clear, interesting, lively, provocative. He led by example in this respect, winning the Wincott Special Award for outstanding financial journalism in 1981 while at Euromoney magazine.
Flair
In addition to this journalistic brilliance was real business flair — a rare combination that saw him oversee the company’s growth into a leading FTSE250 business spanning magazines, newspapers, conferences, training and research covering global financial markets and industries.
He oversaw the transformative acquisition of Institutional Investor in 1997 and then in the next decade takeovers of businesses such as Metal Bulletin, BCA and Ned Davis Research, helping drive the company to a market capitalisation of more than £1bn and profits of close to £100m.
He loved to be out on the road, never happier than on a sales trip for even the smallest division of the company. Many of his colleagues will long remember the cigar-smoke infused car rides from one too-tightly scheduled meeting to another, conversation skipping merrily from Irish poetry to Greek mathematicians to office ribaldry.
A glinty-eyed frown might arise if a sloppily written address led to a delayed meeting. But Padraic would show the same courtesy and engagement to a junior communications clerk as he would to a senior banker or government official, often more so.
A good day was often toasted with a couple of beers drunk at incredible pace, followed by decent, but seldom extravagant, wine. The likes of Restaurant Bofinger on Place de la Bastille will surely miss him.
Padraic regarded affectionately those who worked hard and played hard — indeed he would play hard himself — and would sooner judge the man who got up late than the man with a hangover.
Humanity
He was also a man blessed with exceptionally warm humanity. This was evident not only in his dealings with Euromoney employees but also with those in the City and beyond. Many will have enjoyed being taken to lunch, at the Savoy Grill in earlier years before it was taken over by the Gordon Ramsay crowd, and the Garrick, of which he was a proud member.
Over a glass of claret and classic club fare he would tell great stories, give advice, listen carefully and make judgments. Guests of all backgrounds — whether young editors, junior bond syndicate managers, heads of investment banks or government ministers — were left in no doubt that they had been in the presence of a remarkable man.
Padraic’s character and beliefs are reflected in many of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC’s publications, including EuroWeek and Euromoney. He understood better than most that financial markets are driven by the personality and mood of the people in them.
Our attention to individuals, some flawed, some brilliant, but all interesting and different, is inspired by him. So too is our belief in the enriching capacity of free trade and liberalisation, something that is often taken for granted, but is now going backwards in many parts of the world.
Padraic will be greatly missed by all the staff at EuroWeek. We offer our sincere condolences to his family at this terribly sad time.
By Toby Fildes, John Orchard and Nick Evans