The origins of the Pindar printing business in Scarborough dated back to a small print shop founded by George Kyte Grice in 1836.

Tom Pindar’s grandfather acquired the business in 1879, and it became GA Pindar & Son, with Tom’s father subsequently taking over the reins.

Tom’s son Andrew Pindar takes up the story: “My grandfather fell ill after the war, and he told Tom that instead of going to university he’d better go and work in the business.

“He went to the printing college in Leeds and from there his enquiring mind looked to see how he could grow and develop the business.

“I think it’s fair to say that he was instrumental in modernising the printing industry in the UK.”

Pindar’s typesetting odyssey started off when he won the contract to produce the current papers and abstracts for the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

“He managed to get the NGA to accept women in fast-track apprenticeships. They were using IBM golf ball typewriters in those days to create a readable document to go into a database,” Andrew Pindar recalled.

“The thought behind that gave him the confidence to imagine how he could bring data together in line listings for telephone directories, and how you could merge those with a scanned graphic and the text to automatically make up the pages.

“That was probably one of the biggest breakthroughs he made.”

This know-how resulted in Pindar setting up specialist businesses to handle this type of complex work, including Film Type Services and Pindar Set, and it won many significant contracts.

Peter Wilkinson, Pindar’s former group sales and marketing director, worked with Tom Pindar for decades and remained a close friend right up until the end.

He said: “Tom was completely inspirational. He could be a hard taskmaster and he always told you what he thought.

“He was a pioneer of photo typesetting and harnessed DTP ahead of the game – that’s why we won the Yellow Pages contract.

“He was always full of anecdotes and also wise words. He really was a genius and he will be sorely missed.”

Former Pindar director Brian Brittain also paid tribute. He said: “I had the privilege to work with Tom Pindar from the early ’70s and witnessed the dramatic development of what started as a seaside jobbing printers in the late Victorian era, where even then the accent was on quality (‘Pindar Print is Prompt and Pleasing’) to one of the UK's largest independent volume litho printers.

“Additionally, Tom was a pioneer in the move to film setting and led the field in setting the benchmark for others to follow. Above all, Tom was one of life’s genuinely good men and he commanded respect and affection in equal measure. He will be sorely missed.”

Andrew Pindar said that he believed at one point the business was the biggest user of Apple Macintosh computers in Europe.

Pindar received his OBE in 1986 for services to the printing industry, and was also Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire for many years.

In 2008 he was lauded by the BPIF for his outstanding contribution to the printing industry, receiving his award from Fulmar founder Mike Taylor.

Pindar constantly championed Scarborough and was instrumental in setting up the Renaissance project there, “part of a lifetime of work pushing the town forward”.

The Scarborough Rugby Club grounds are named the Tom Pindar playing fields in recognition of all the support Tom and the Pindar family gave to the club over the years, providing sport and recreational facilities for the community.

The club issued its own tribute, and said: “Tom’s influence on Scarborough life will be felt for many years to come, through his involvement in the Scarborough Renaissance, Scarborough Business Ambassadors, Rotary and numerous other organisations that benefitted from his drive, passion and generosity.

“Tom will be remembered most for his deep sense of service, duty and dedication to others. Throughout his life, he chose to give back to society at every opportunity, always looking to improve Scarborough for its residents.”

Pindar died on 2 November, surrounded by his loved ones.

“There are so many cherished moments. One of the things my dad could do was, he just became friends with people. He might have been in a sense their boss, but that wasn’t how he dealt with people, he dealt with people as human beings,” Andrew Pindar added.

He is survived by his wife of 71 years Margery, their children Margaret and Andrew, grandchildren Nick and Tom Lumby and Zoe and George Pindar, and great-grandchildren Poppy and Arthur Lumby.

The funeral is likely to be held in three weeks’ time, with further details to follow.

Pindar was also instrumental in setting up St Catherine’s Hospice in Scarborough, and donations in his memory can be made to the charity.