Eddie Bell, Former HarperCollins UK Chief, Dies at 77
Eddie Bell, who led HarperCollins UK as chairman and chief executive before co-founding the literary agency Bell Lomax Moreton, has died at the age of 77. The Bookseller reported his death on 20 August 2026.
Bell's career spanned the two sides of the book business — publishing houses that buy manuscripts and turn them into printed books, and literary agencies that represent authors and negotiate those deals. He held the posts of executive chairman and publisher at HarperCollins UK, one of the country's largest trade publishers, before leaving to set up his own agency. The Bookseller; Bell Lomax Moreton
His departure from Hodder & Stoughton, another major British publisher, was marked by a practical kind of loyalty: Bell brought some of Hodder's sales staff with him when he moved to HarperCollins. The Bookseller The detail speaks to a side of publishing that readers rarely see — sales teams, the people who persuade bookshops to stock a title and fight for its place on the shelf, are a house's front line, and their movement between companies signals where relationships and momentum travel.
After his executive career, Bell co-founded the literary agency Bell Lomax Moreton, where he continued to work with authors. A literary agency acts as the author's representative — handling contract negotiations, selling translation and film rights, and managing the business side of a writing career so the writer can focus on the work. June Bell, who was instrumental in founding the agency, also developed her own client list there. Bell Lomax Moreton The agency was first noted in the trade press as early as 2013, when Publishing Perspectives referenced it among shifts in publishing leadership. Publishing Perspectives
Bell also served as a non-executive director at New Century Media Ltd — a board role that involves oversight and governance rather than day-to-day management. MarketScreener
For anyone who picks up a book from a shelf, the chain from manuscript to finished copy runs through people like Eddie Bell: the executives who greenlight acquisitions, the sales directors who push titles into shops, and the agents who fight for the writer's share. His career touched each of those links.
