Grace Cheetham to leave HarperCollins

HarperCollins' cookery and lifestyle publishing director Grace Cheetham is leaving the business on 22nd September.

Cheetham joined HarperCollins in May 2015 as interim publisher for Harper Non-Fiction from Nourish Books, having worked in multiple editorial roles in the UK and Australia.

She has decided to leave HarperCollins to “broaden my career and explore roles and projects that encompass content creation in its broadest sense”.

HarperCollins executive publisher Kate Elton said the company waved goodbye to Cheetham with “great sadness” after she has made a “huge contribution to the reinvention of the HarperNonFiction division” – particularly its cookery list.

Her highlights include tripling Marcus Wareing’s sales, commissioning the first book from cult open-air food sensation The Hidden Hut and acquiring Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan's first cookbook, Elton said.

“Grace’s keen interest in current and emerging trends, and the ways in which consumers relate and are influenced, has brought both interesting new titles and innovative commercial thinking to the list,” Elton added.

Cheetham said she was “proud” to have acquired and published both established and new voices in the cookery sphere, and to have seen those books receive critical acclaim.

“During the course of my two years I have expanded my publishing remit into multiple genres whilst developing an interest in the relationship between publishing and marketing,” she said. “I will be sorry to say goodbye to HarperCollins and all the brilliant authors I’ve worked with but I have decided, that whilst cookery and lifestyle publishing remain my first love, the time is right to broaden my career and explore roles and projects that encompass content creation in its broadest sense.”

HarperCollins said it will be recruiting to replace the role shortly.

Cheetham can be contacted on gracecheetham@hotmail.com