14-Jan-2010
The Iranian National Guard detaining a group of yachtsmen sailing from Bahrain to Dubai as part of an international sailing event in November attracted worldwide attention. The sailors had strayed in to Iranian waters after difficulties with the yacht’s propeller, and concern naturally enough centred on ensuring the seizure would not trigger a political flashpoint. Common sense prevailed, and after five days, the sailors who freely admitted (somewhat sheepishly) that they had indeed allowed the boat to drift, despite of having some of the finest navigation equipment available, were released.
Pictures of the crew were flashed around the world and its sponsor’s name Pindar were seen by millions, though few knew or perhaps even enquired as to who or what Pindar did and why it was sponsoring yachts. Well, any printer from the UK would know that Pindar is one of only a small number of British printing and communications businesses operating on the world’s stage. Pindar is highly skilled at providing services capable of handling typesetting, pagination and layout of huge projects such as telephone directories, legal tomes and books regardless of language, script alphabets and type flow direction.
The company is headed by a rather quietly spoken and rather urbane English man, Andrew Pindar. His father Tom founded the business and Andrew is the welcome exception for a son following a father into a family business; he has added strength and vigour to an already well-run and sophisticated business. It is a measure of the way Andrew does things—his first concern was for the welfare of the crew; “I was anxious in the first instance, for we had no communication at all with the crew, nor did the Iranians contact us and it was a wonderful relief to have the crew released. The crew all spoke highly and quite genuinely of the favourable treatment they received while being detained,” he said.
Andrew added, “The crew cooperated with the Iranian security men throughout the ordeal; on releasing the necessary passwords for the computers and emails, it soon became obvious that the yacht and its crew had no malicious intent. In fact, after five days, the crew and their guards were on good terms, and gestures of goodwill were exchanged.
While talking to Andrew about the event I asked him if his company had benefited from the unintended extra exposure. He said, “Well, not directly, but we do have a strong presence now in the world yachting scene where graphics now play an important role as the worldwide interest in sailing grows. HSBC, for example, with whom we have collaborated several times previously, see considerable benefits in being associated with world class yachting.” It is not only with yacht graphics Pindar has made a mark; it already has a good presence in Saudi Arabia through one of its subsidiaries, Alpha Graphics, a chain of print shops working directly with the public.
When asked whether he saw the recent events as an opportunity to spread the name Pindar more strongly in the region, Andrew said that although he is keen to expand in the Middle East, in the field of typesetting services, particularly in double back characters (e.g. Farsi and Arabic)—an area in which Pindar is probably a world leader, he didn’t regard using the detention of the yacht and its crew as being an appropriate way to push expansion. “I have refused to support or allow any books or stories to be published in an effort to avoid the potential of any misunderstandings,” he said.
Knowing Andrew for many years, this is a good measure of the man and the company he leads; this stance wouldn’t have been taken through any form of discretionary pressure. “We would welcome the opportunity to do business in Iran, and we shall continue to develop and support our contacts in Saudi Arabia and throughout the region,” he said.