Sir Ray Tindle, who has died aged 95, was the buoyantly enthusiastic rescuer of more than 200 local newspapers in the UK and a philanthropist of imagination and charm. He harnessed his lifelong energy to a model of ultra-local news, trim private ownership and an absolute ban on borrowing money – in the process defying Jeremiahs in the industry for more than 60 years.
He loved the job, from his first encounter with its novelty and bustle as a schoolboy evacuee to his death while still company president of his own Tindle Group, although with the executive succession passed to his son, Owen in 2017. Unusually for a press baron, as he may be literally but misleadingly described, he was much liked.
