By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Ian Hyland, owner of Catalyst Media Group, publisher of Business & Finance, and new owner of Quartet Books
London-based Independent book publisher, Quartet Books to expand following recent acquisition by Irish publisher, Ian Hyland
London-based independent book publisher Quartet Books has been acquired by Irish businessman and publisher, Ian Hyland, the owner of Catalyst Media Group and publisher of Business & Finance.
Quartet Books, originally established in 1972 and acquired by nobable businessman and author, Naim Attallah CBE in 1976, became one of the most notable publishers in the United Kingdom. It was widely known as a home to radical authors including works by Helmut Newton, Brain Sewell, Sally Emerson, Michael Darlow, Barbara Bray, John Swannell, Desmond Cecil, Rubert Darwell Amanda Prantera and Jonnah Yacoub.
Under Mr. Hyland’s newly incorporated Quartet Publishing in London and Dublin, Quartet Books plans to relaunch titles from its existing catalogue and expand its publishing activities via new titles. Quartet Books has now begun the process of signing new exciting, established and eclectic authors while maintaining its independent publishing tradition and expanding the publisher to an international audience in the UK, Ireland and the United States, where Mr. Hyland’s media and engagement activities are already engaged.
Quartet Publishing will creatively embrace modern publishing practices in print and digital to maximise the potential for our authors, titles and reader experience.
The acquisition of Quartet comes at a time of transition for the publisher following the passing of the company’s former owner and Chairman Naim Attallah CBE in 2021 and subsequent closure of the business in early 2021.
As Quartet’s new Chairman & Publisher Mr. Hyland has commenced engaging with Quartet’s network of over 200 authors and is exploring Quartet’s significant back catalogue of titles with a view to revising and republishing some while signing new authors to the Quartet Publishing stable embracing both print and digital, building on the Independent publishers rich heritage while creating an exciting new portfolio of titles.
Commenting on his acquisition of Quartet Books, Ian Hyland said: “I am honoured to be the custodian of Quartet Books which has an incredibly rich legacy as a champion of Independent book publishing. I believe while respecting Quartet’s heritage we will now begin to build an exciting International Independent Publishing business working with new authors.
“Quartet Publishing will creatively embrace modern publishing practices in print and digital to maximise the potential for our authors, titles and reader experience. This is a very exciting time for book publishing and I look forward to working closely with our community of authors and partners to commence a new exciting chapter in Quartet’s journey”
Ian Hyland acquired the Business & Finance Media Group in 2002. Business & Finance was Established in 1964 as Ireland’s first business periodical. He also acquired the political magazine Magill (established in 1977). Mr. Hyland subsequently sold Magill in 2017. Today, Catalyst Media Group (owner of Business & Finance Media) operates a portfolio of niche media activities in Ireland, the UK and United States across publishing, events, communications and C-suite engagement.
According to the Publishers Association, the UK publishing industry cumulatively employs 99,000 people, 29,000 directly with a further 70,000 jobs in related industries. It takes in £6 Billion, of which 60% or £3.6 Billion is income from exports. Information from The Bookseller indicates that 39 of the top 500 books for 2019 were from independent publishers.
