Glad to be stepping aside, Tim Pearce says goodbye

Editorial in London said goodbye to a long-serving and highly respected colleague in traditional fashion this week with drinks at a wine bar a few steps from the Canary Wharf office. Tim Pearce (photo)​, leaves tomorrow, the eve of his 65th birthday, after 42 years’ service with Reuters, Paul Bolding writes.

Jon Boyle, chief desk editor, politics and general news, Europe, Middle East and Africa, made a presentation of an antique print of St Paul’s Cathedral. The work was drawn from close to 85 Fleet Street, Reuters’ home when Pearce joined in 1970, and was his choice.

After training, Pearce was a manager in Brussels before joining editorial, serving in places that included Beijing, Copenhagen, Hong Kong and Lusaka as well as the London desk.

Boyle praised Pearce’s professionalism and noted how, unusual among deskers, he was rarely heard to swear.

Pearce told a few stories from some of his postings, including the arrival at the Beijing bureau of the first telex machine in the 1970s. Reporters previously had to drive to a cable office to file copy or book a phone call to Hong Kong. He was in Brussels when the first, very limited, video editing terminal arrived.

He said he would miss his colleagues but not the way the business works today. “The pace of news has outpaced the speed of sense,” he said. “I am glad to be stepping aside from it.” ■