Abigail with attitude: In memoriam: Padraic Fallon

In late March, a memorial service was held for Padraic Fallon, the former chairman of Euromoney Institutional Investor, the company that owns Euromoney magazine. Padraic died much too young, at the age of 66, after a battle with cancer.

Padraic’s career bridged the worlds of journalism and business. He was one of the first editors of Euromoney and went on, together with Sir Patrick Sergeant and Richard Ensor, to rapidly expand and eventually list the company. Today the group has a market capitalization of roughly £1 billion.

The service was held at St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street, often dubbed the journalists’ church. Family, friends, colleagues and business contacts came to celebrate the life of this remarkable man.

In the congregation, I saw many senior figures from the financial world, including Dame Helen Alexander, Paul Hearn, Colm Kelleher, David Mayhew, John McNiven, Simon Meadows, Jean Pierre Mustier, Jeremy Isaacs, Ian Plenderleith, Hans-Joerg Rudloff and Paul Tucker. Daily Mail and General Trust is the main shareholder in Euromoney Institutional Investor.

Lord Rothermere, chairman of DMGT, spoke warmly about Padraic, both as a mentor and as a man.