When not engaged on Stationers’ Company activities, he spends most of his time writing and has had two books published on monetary history and one on the Stationers’ Company’s role in the early settlement of North America. He’s 69 and married with one son

What is your nickname? 

I’ve never had a nickname, although when I did my Russian language interpreter’s course in the early 1980s, we were all given a Russian name that equates to our own English names. I was Pasha, the Russian familiar equivalent for Pavel or Paul

Why did you get into printing? 

I had always been interested in rare early printed books and De La Rue looked interesting as a means of increasing my understanding of printing. At that time the company was looking for a Russian language speaker to look after its business in the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, so it was a good fit

What would you most like to print?  

I have written a fourth book: A Frost of Cares – Prisoner-Poets of the Tower of London 1534-1618. But a book about Tudor and Jacobean poetry – especially one not written by an academic – didn’t get pulses racing in the publishing world. I therefore self-published as an e-book. Obviously I would like to see that in print

What book are you reading at the moment?

I’ve just started reading Survivors by the late sir Christopher Meyer. It’s a novel based on the story of a family during the Russian revolution, the family being that of his widow, Baroness Catherine Meyer. Christopher was Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission and a member of the Stationers’ company. I’m still at the early stages, but am already impressed by the author’s courage, as a Briton, to attempt a novel which sweeps across the vast geography of Russia at a time of war and revolution. This is a canvas we would usually associate with great novels written by Russians, rather than foreigners. The book was self-published by Catherine and I suspect that some publishers have missed a trick with this one

Who do you admire most in the industry? 

Nicol McGregor of De La Rue who project-managed the design and construction of more high-security print factories than anyone else I know of, including banknote factories in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kenya, Malta, Kazakhstan and Ireland and a passport factory in Malta. He also ran several of those factories. It was a pleasure to work with someone whose professionalism, experience and expertise was complemented by a calm and methodical management style

Cat or dog, or…? 

Probably dog as we had a superb lurcher called Otto, but they can be quite high maintenance

What is the strangest job you’ve ever done?

Temporary interpreter in 1984 for the British governor of Spandau prison, Berlin, where Rudolf Hess had been imprisoned since the Nuremberg trials. It was definitely the most bizarre setup. British, American, French and Soviets pouring time and diplomatic and military effort into keeping a single surviving prisoner in a monumental prison with a gothic feel to it all. I recall a tour of the prison in which we were admitted to the chapel which hadn’t been used for decades and was in a state of decay with dead pigeons lying on the pews. ‘Strange’ doesn’t do it justice

Who would you like to be stuck on a desert island with? 

If I had to be stuck on a desert island at all, it would probably have to be with my wife. We’d probably drive each other crazy eventually, but it would take longer to get to that point than it would with anyone else

Which superpower would you like to have? 

The ability to solve problems with my IT devices with ease or to format texts for Kindle publication with ease. On the basis of personal experience, these would be superpowers

What is the worst kind of print? 

Something that’s been poorly procured with little attention to quality and all emphasis on price. I have one UK government document in mind

What piece of printing kit would you like to see invented?

A cost-effective colour engraver for passport polycarbonate (as opposed to paper) pages. I believe that five countries now have colour-engraved polycarbonate pages, which would seem to suggest it’s still not sufficiently economic to appeal to a large number of countries 

What was the best business deal that you’ve pulled off? 

I think the UK emergency travel document contract for the Foreign Office which De La Rue won in 2008/2009 had significance beyond the volume produced and financial benefits. The tender took place prior to the main UK passport tender and allowed us to demonstrate to the UK government our capabilities and reliability in the passport production business and our ability to think through the options for an emergency document. I led for De La Rue in the discussions and presentations to the Foreign Office Consular Department. As a win, it was one of the early steps towards winning the much bigger contract

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

More effort on A level studies!

How would you like to be remembered? 

As someone who has led a very interesting life