Sir Frank Barlow 2000

Mr Barlow was born on March 25 1930 in Barrow to John and Isabella Barlow.

He attended Barrow Grammar School for Boys from 1941 to 1946, and showed an aptitude for mathematics, qualifying as an accountant before joining the Royal Navy where he met and married Lady Constance Patricia Ginns.

The pair were married for fifty years and had three children, Paul, Jill and Kim, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

After the war, Mr Barlow secured an international post at the Nigeria Electricity Supply Corporation before moving to the Overseas Newspapers Division of the Daily Mirror Group in 1959.

In August 1963, the Mirror Group appointed Mr Barlow as the General Manager of the ‘Barbados Advocate’ before being appointed as the General Manager and Director of Trinidad Mirror Newspapers which comprised of eight newspapers across the West Indies.

The next year, Mr Barlow moved to Belfast for the launch of a new venture - the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror in Northern Ireland.

However, four years later he joined the Pearson Group where he served as director at Sky Subscribers Services and remained for the next 30 years.

According to his Mr Barlow’s son, Paul, his father ‘was instrumental in refocussing the Pearson organization to a leading UK and global media company.’

David Kynaston wrote in The Financial Times - A Centenary History: “[Frank] was recognised as a tough operator who rarely fought a battle he could not win.

“He knew production intimately, and his early training as an accountant had given him an abiding appreciation of the importance of the bottom line, as well as a well-developed ability to control costs.”

In 1998, Mr Barlow was given a Knighthood for Services to the Newspaper Industry.

In his home life, his son Paul said he had an ‘ambition to be a better grandfather than father’.

“He was very generous as a father and would often speak well of his children,” Mr Barlow said.

“He was a true northerner and a Barrovian at heart.”

Mr Barlow said Barrow held a ‘special place’ for his father throughout his life.

“A lot of his family connections were in Barrow and he loved spending time in the Lakes,” he said.

“He described the Lakes as the only place where he could wind down.

“He attributed his success to hard work with an element of luck but also to growing up in the north.

“He often told me coming from a working class background instilled a drive in him which helped further his career.”

Sir Frank died on 20th November 2019.

Article courtesy of The Mail