One of the most respected and well-networked business journalists in Wales, Robert Llewellyn-Jones, has died aged 80.

Born and raised in Merthyr, Robert’s journey into journalism came relatively late in his career, after teaching English at Dyffryn Comprehensive School in Port Talbot for more than 25 years.

His initial focus was on commercial feature writing at the Western Mail and Echo Ltd, which put him in touch with the Welsh business community.

It was a perfect match, and would eventually see him joining the Western Mail business desk as a reporter – firstly under the guidance of business editor Neil Jones and later his successor, myself.

There was something of the thespian in Robert, with his love of literature and his poetic prose evident in his business feature writing, which saw him interview many of the leading lights of Welsh business, both in Wales and further afield.

He had a unique interviewing style, allowing the interviewee to talk, and interjecting only gently, but succinctly, when required.

This approach – rather than being adversarial for its own sake – ensured he elicited far more depth and detail for his profiles than perhaps the interviewee had ever intended.

Whether it was the former governor of the Bank........

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