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Few people can say they have devoted almost 40 years of their life to the service of one company, Very few indeed can claim that they’ve overseen the development of that company from having one niche product to being a company of 50 businesses worth in excess of £1 billion. But that’s exactly what Richard Ensor, who retired as chairman of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC at the end of September, has achieved.
Ensor began as assistant editor of Euromoney magazine in the summer of 1976. His first cover story was about a crisis in the Argentinian bond markets. Some things never change.
An interview in the November issue that year with economist JK Galbraith demonstrated the combative style and attention to detail that defined the Ensor years.
During a long back and forth on the role of the state in the UK economy, at one point Ensor posits: “The public sector has been shown to have a lower productivity [to the private sector], to be less efficient.”
To which Galbraith replies: “I have the impression that you have been indulging unduly in right-wing literature. Do you think that’s possible?”
Ensor soon moved on to the management team at Euromoney, launching the first spin-off from the magazine – a highly successful books department – and as managing director alongside then-chairman Padraic Fallon oversaw a remarkable period of growth, with the launch of our events businesses, the float of Euromoney on both the Luxembourg and London stock exchanges, the acquisitions of Institutional Investor and Metal Bulletin and the company’s transition into a modern, digital information company.
Throughout those 39 years, Ensor demonstrated a forensic eye for numbers and a laser-like approach to management decisions. Papers submitted to him would inevitably suffer the fate of being scrawled in his familiar hand with exclamation points, question marks and comments questioning their meaning. Face-to-face presentations were likely to be interrupted by incredulous interjections such as: “These are just words!” or “Could you wake us up when you’ve finished?”
But that hard exterior did not mask an unflinchingly fair and loyal boss, one who dispensed sage advice and quickly forgave those who admitted their mistakes.
After Fallon’s death, Ensor became chairman in 2012. His enthusiasm for the company, and the markets it covers, never waned. The last conference he chaired was in Egypt in September. Ensor’s flights from London were badly delayed, and when he arrived just before the morning start of the event, he found his hotel room had been given up to another guest.
Undeterred, Ensor was still on stage first thing to give the welcome address and interview the country’s finance minister in front of several hundred delegates.
Euromoney will miss that dedication and support. We hope our readers will join everyone at the company in thanking Richard and wishing him a long, happy and fulfilling retirement.