Sir Raymond Stanley Tindle (8 October 1926 – 16 April 2022) was a British newspaper and radio entrepreneur. He founded the Tindle Group of regional newspapers and radio stations.

Early life

After leaving school he went on to enlist in the 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, an infantry regiment in the British Army. He saw service in the Far East between 1944 and 1947, rising to the rank of captain. After wartime service he bought his first newspaper, the '' Tooting & Balham Gazette'' with his £250 demob payment.

Career

Tindle continued acquiring newspapers over the decades that followed, operating them as local titles. At its peak, the Tindle Group owned more than 220 publications.

Tindle Newspapers Ltd The Tindle Group is a British multimedia company operating regional newspapers and radio stations across the British Isles. It publishes over 200 local newspapers in the UK, a number of which are over 100 years old. The company is based in F ...

now owns local papers and radio stations covering large parts of Wales, Surrey, Hampshire, Essex, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Ireland, the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. Tindle attributed a great deal of the company's success to the fact it had always remained debt free. In the 1970s, Tindle was an early investor in

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...

. In 1998, he sold back his shares in the company to buy

Island FM Island FM is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting across the Bailiwick of Guernsey on 104.7FM and 93.7FM in Alderney. Launched in 1992, Island FM remains the sole commercial station in the island and continues to be extremely succes ...

in Guernsey, the first local station to form part of the Tindle Radio group. He retired as chairman of the ''Surrey Advertiser'' in 1977 after 35 years and also as a director for 18 years on the main board of ''The Guardian & Manchester Evening News''. He was chairman for ten years of the ''Belfast News Letter'', the UK's oldest provincial daily. Tindle was elected president of the

Newspaper Society The News Media Association is a trade body which styles itself as "the voice of national, regional and local news media organisations in the UK". It was created in 2014 by a merger between the Newspaper Society and the Newspaper Publishers' Associat ...

– the industry's highest honour – in 1971, and was its honorary treasurer for 14 years. He completed 50 years of involvement with the Newspaper Society in 2002. He was the founder chairman of the Weekly Newspaper Bureau and also a past president of the Wessex Newspaper Association, of the Greater London Newspaper Association and of the Young Newspaperman's Association. He was a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Journalists, and a member of the Guild of Editors. Tindle became Master of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers in 1985 after some 20 years of service on several committees and of the Court. In 2017, Tindle stepped down as chairman of the company at the age of 90. He was succeeded by his son Owen, but remained the group's president until his death on 16 April 2022 at the age of 95.

Awards

He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

1987 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in sup ...

and was knighted in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

for services to the newspaper industry. Tindle was an Honorary Fellow of the

Surrey Institute of Art & Design Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893� ...

which became the University for the Creative Arts, a Doctor of Letters at the

University of Buckingham , mottoeng = Flying on Our Own Wings , established = 1973; as university college1983; as university , type = Private , endowment = , administrative_staff = 97 academic, 103 support , chanc ...

and was admitted to the Degree of Doctor at the University of Surrey in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tindle, Ray 1926 births 2022 deaths Devonshire Regiment officers People educated at Torquay Boys' Grammar School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English businesspeople Knights Bachelor British newspaper publishers (people) British radio people Businesspeople awarded knighthoods British Army personnel of World War II