David Andrew Quayle (19 August 1936 – 6 April 2010)Obituary in ''The Times''
/ref> was a British businessman best known as co-founder of the UK-based DIY chain B&Q.

Biography

Quayle was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire and went to school at Brighton College in 1950. He returned to the school to be a governor in the 1990s. Quayle worked in the Marley Tile company in the 1960s and together with his brother-in-law Richard Block started the B&Q retail chain in 1969 in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Their idea of large warehouse-style DIY stores copied the style already successfully operating in other European countries, but B&Q soon filled the gap in the British market to become the largest retail supplier of DIY products in the United Kingdom. He left B&Q in 1982 and moved on to other companies, working in

Television South Television South (TVS) was the ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder in the South East England, South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, ini ...

, City Vision, Ritz Video, Granada Group and founded the Beatrice Royal Contemporary Art and Craft Gallery in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

in 1999. Whilst on holiday with his second wife Chrissie, Quayle died at sea unexpectedly on 6 April 2010 on a cruise ship holiday off the coast of South Africa.

References

1936 births 2010 deaths British retail company founders People educated at Brighton College 20th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-1930s-stub