Queensberry dates back to 1969 and Heather Baugh’s handcrafted leather business in Auckland, New Zealand. Today Queensberry remains a family business and Heather continues as creative director.
From the very start, Heather cared deeply about the experiences that people have with the memories of their special days.
Heather's insight was that in the end we serve those "strangers in the viewfinder" by crafting their memories into a treasured possession that tells their story. That focus is at the very core of Queensberry’s vision and purpose today.
We speak of the three main players in Queensberry’s world: the customer who’s special moments and stories we celebrate, the photographer who captures them, and we at Queensberry who transform them into a beautiful, bespoke, handmade photographic albums and books.
By the mid ’80s Heather’s handcrafted books were very popular. Heather’s husband Ian became involved in the growing enterprise and the family business was shipping albums to Australia.
But by the early ’90s Heather and Ian were restless. Photographers needed albums they could customise to suit the particular photos a client bought, but manufacturers’ production and stocking problems made it very difficult for them to do that and also keep their products fresh and up to date. At the time we described wedding albums as “the industry that style forgot”.
Driven by the desire to present the magic of a wedding day in the most exceptional way, in 1994 Heather and Ian revolutionised the album business by resolving that, from then on, they would make every album to order.
They launched their break-through Pagemount presentation system and promised to “liberate photographers from album makersʼ constraints and tired designs forever”. Now photographers would be free to design albums to suit their images, and we could deliver contemporary products with high design values.
In 1996 a new generation of the family became involved and began to lay the groundwork for a major expansion of the business. Queensberry installed the first computerised mat cutter in the album business and developed radical new in-house software to drive it.
As internet pioneers, we began to attract clients in North America and Britain. Being able to tell stories through photos in albums that were designed to suit the images was a radical innovation in 2000, and an immediate success.
We developed new business systems so that we could talk to our clients personally and deliver promptly door to door. More than three quarters of Queensberry’s sales now come from the northern hemisphere.
Over the years we've been proud to be involved in special commissions for Indira Gandhi, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Pope John Paul, Princess Diana, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Sir Edmund Hillary, and many more since.
In 2001 we released Photojunction, the leading album design software program, which we now offer free to photographers everywhere. Thousands of photographers use the software, many of them choosing Queensberry albums.
In 2003 we bought Chromatek, New Zealand’s iconic wedding and portrait pro lab so we could deliver albums filled with the best possible printing to clients around the world.
In 2010 we entered the new world of digital offset printing and launched the Queensberry Press.
In 2012 we released Workspace, bringing the photographers studio workflow online with powerfully integrated features such as image hosting, online sales and album design.
In 2013 we launched Queensberry Print, utilizing our pro lab and printing expertise to diversify our range of products - now including fine art prints, canvas prints, frames, print boxes and a new simple book range.
These newer ventures are as important to Queensberry now as handmade albums have always been. In fact our most recent innovations, such as Duo albums and our highly customisable press books, would be impossible without our expertise in technology and printing.
Adrienne's first role in Queensberry was making gold edge pin hinge pages while in junior high to pay her own way to Brisbane (Australia) for a holiday, and she has never let her parents forget it. She graduated from Auckland University with a B.Sc. in Zoology and for a few years pursued her love of animals by working with one of New Zealand's foremost animal trainers. She still wrangles animals for the occasional film shoot, and her dogs are famous in her neighbourhood for their geniality and good manners. In Queensberry Adrienne has worked throughout the finance, production and HR teams. Each year Adrienne also volunteers her time as a Senior Leader for Robbins Research International. She has a passion for team building and personal development and honestly doesn't mind taking direction from her brother.
After university Stephen worked briefly in Queensberry. His biggest achievement was a big corporate sale that still figures in company legend. Starting in 1990 Stephen spent seven years in corporate sales with Fuji Xerox in Brisbane where he developed a pioneering CRM package to personally help him manage a large, widespread territory. Not content in the corporate world he returned to Queensberry in 1996 after marrying Sonya and persuading her to leave the Queensland sun for Auckland's occasional showers. With over 20 years IT experience Stephen is the reason Queensberry was a pioneer in online business, and he's the driving force behind all our IT systems and software (including Photojunction), all of which have been developed in-house. To keep up with his sister, Stephen is still trying to teach his cats to wave.
Sonya’s family comes from the North of England but she was born and raised in Queensland, Australia. She met Stephen nineteen years ago when she was working in early childhood care and he was working for Xerox in Brisbane. Sonya and Stephen returned to NZ in 1996 to join Queensberry and loved it so much that along with Adrienne they became part owners of the family business with Heather and Ian in 1998. They have two daughters, Alexandria and Charlotte. Sonya is a keen amateur photographer, and has a great passion for recording family images, and a vast album collection to prove it. Besides running our sales and support team, Sonya has worked in production and despatch. She does mind taking direction from Stephen, but occasionally lets him have his own way.