Victoria Barnsley

Victoria Barnsley OBE (born 4 March 1954) is a British businesswoman and entrepreneur. In 1984 she founded the publishing house Fourth Estate. In 2000 the company was acquired by HarperCollins Publishers, a subsidiary of News Corporation, when Barnsley was made CEO and Publisher of HarperCollins UK. In 2008 she was promoted to CEO and Publisher of HarperCollins UK and International, a position she remained in until July 2013. While at HarperCollins, she helped to develop its digital and international content business.

Barnsley has held various high profile industry roles including President of the Publishers Association and Chair of World Book Day. She also represented the publishing sector on the Creative Industries Council. In addition to literature Barnsley has an extensive interest in the visual arts and is a former trustee of both Tate and The National Gallery. At Tate she chaired the Tate Britain Council and remains a trustee of the Tate Foundation and a director of Tate Enterprises Ltd..

Barnsley has a BA in English Literature from U.C.L. and an MA from the University of York. She was made a Fellow of U.C.L. in 2005, and was awarded an OBE for services to publishing in the 2009 New Years Honours List.

Barnsley is the daughter of Thomas E. Barnsley, who was also awarded an OBE and his wife Margaret Gwyneth Barnsley (née Llewellin). Since 1992 she has been married to The Hon. Nicholas Howard, son of the cross-bench life peer George Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe. They have one daughter.

References

• Melville House UK Blog 3 July 2013: "What it was like to work for Victoria Barnsley"
• The Guardian 26 August 2012: "Victoria Barnsley: We can't think of ourselves as book publishers any more"
• The Bookseller 10 May 2011: "Shift to digital will hit revenue, says Barnsley"
• The Guardian 20 April 2009: "Waiting for the iPod moment" (Interview with Victoria Barnsley)
• The Independent 19 November 2007: "Victoria Barnsley: Bringing books to your mobile phone"
• Management Today 4 July 2004: The MT Interview with Victoria Barnsley