Evans David - Stitches in time: an exhibition of needlepoint

Nigel Quiney was born in 1939 in West Dulwich, South London, the second of two sons. He was educated at Dulwich College after passing the eleven-plus but once in the senior school rather lost his way and left at the age of sixteen to join his fathers small paper merchants business in the City of London.

Being fascinated with fashion, he sold silk scarves that he had designed and had made up in Paris to Liberty, Simpsons and Jaeger. After a three month gap-break in 1960 visiting the USA and Mexico, travelling around in Greyhound buses, he returned to the family business and in 1965 started to design gift-wrapping paper.

The family business declined to support this new concept of high-fashion gift-wrapping, due to the veto of a non family partner, so Nigel Quiney Designs was born and was consequently run by a manager. This was the era of Swinging London and his papers became extremely popular selling all over the world including the USA, coast to coast. Both businesses flourished.

At the start of the eighties Nigel started to design greeting cards which when added to the other stationery products that the company was selling helped to increase turnover.

In 1982 Nigel met David Evans and after an engagement of twenty-four years they became official partners in a civil ceremony held at Islington Town Hall.

By the end of the eighties Nigel ceased all activity with the design company and in 1991 Nigel sold Nigel Quiney Designs to a very much larger greeting card publisher. Under the new ownership, Nigel Quiney Designs changed its name to Nigel Quiney Publications and is going strong to this day, albeit concentrating on the middle-of-the-road market - a complete departure from the fashion-conscious brand that he had created.

In 1996 Nigel sold Ridley Quiney, the company that he had joined as a teenager, to a management buyout. At that time the original paper merchants business had shrunk to just five percent of turnover but polythene products had expanded the business hugely and the company was one of the largest distributors of general packaging materials to the trade in the UK.

Ten years on, Nigel loves his freedom from the discipline of business and spends his time enjoying travelling, reading, writing his memoirs, cooking, a little gardening, cinema, theatre and of course designing and stitching his needlepoints.

The first volume of his memoirs, A COCK-EYED OPTIMIST published by the Tusitala Press, is available via Gardners Books from any bookshop, worldwide. ISBN 0 9533341 6 3

Born February 1947 Great Malvern, Worcestershire

Educated Privately and at Hanley Castle Grammar School

PUBLICATIONS

Novels

Biographies

All biographies published by Britannia Press (now defunct) are currently out of print. Copies and rights available from author.

ISBN Numbers (for Library and Ordering Reference):

SUMMER SET

A Novel

1 87374102 2

A CAT IN THE TULIPS

A Novel

1 87374110 3

A HOLLYWOOD CONSCIENCE (as Ned Cresswell)

A Novel

1 87374119 7

THIS IS THE REAL LIFE The Life of Freddie Mercury (with David Minns)

0 95199370 4

THIS IS THE REAL LIFE (Paperback)

0 95199371 2

MORE OF THE REAL LIFE

1 89978420 9

THE REAL LIFE (Antaeus)

1 90195300 9

THE BOY WHO LOOKED AT THE MOON (Cat Stevens)

Britannia Press

0 95199377 1

SCISSORS AND PASTE (Dusty Springfield)

Britannia Press

0 95199377 1

FROM MAE TO MADONNA (The Glamour Blondes)

Britannia Press

1 89978405 5

MISTER MERCURY (with Peter Freestone) Hardback published 29th July 1998.