Mayfair's Heywood Hill Marks 90 Years

Arriving at least 10 minutes early at the door of Heywood Hill to be punctual (and maybe a personal browse through literary treasures) I was greeted by a sense of nostalgia, despite having no preconceived claim to it.

The bookshop is quaint, just big enough to pace from wall to wall several times in under a minute and has a lived-in kind of feeling that makes you want to kick your feet up and stay for an hour or five. From the second I settle in, it becomes clear that the space has taken on the character of its inhabitants through the years. And its inhabitants of course are books – some of the finest in the world.  

Founded in 1936 by George Heywood Hill, the shop has spent nearly a century refining the art of curating and assembling books, earning a quiet authority in the world of bookselling.

From serving as a bookseller to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, appearing as a set piece in John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and assembling the library of the Bulgari Hotel London alongside a dozen of the world’s finest private collections, Heywood Hill has made “going the extra mile” look almost like a hobby.

And nearly a century on, Heywood Hill is celebrating the milestone with a new addition to its luxury book subscription offerings.

“The store will be 90 years old in 2026, so we’ve released London’s Greatest Book Subscription. We wanted to celebrate ninety years of independent bookselling with something that truly captures what makes Heywood Hill special — the human touch, the love of good writing, and a sense of literary adventure.” 

Books are a dependable Christmas gift, yet too often picked arbitrarily. The seasonal shuffle nudges you toward an impulse literary buy, and once unwrapped, drifts straight to the shelf, gathering dust like clockwork.

A subscription flips that script, putting the recipient first. And guided by nearly a century of bookselling know-how, each book lands where it belongs — into the hands of someone who will actually read it.

Sitting down with chairman and bookseller-in-chief Nicky Dunne, he explains how the idea came to life — and why it’s far from your average book subscription.

“It’s funny, because it was inspired by a customer”, Dunne shares. “About ten years ago, an American lady came in saying she’d been receiving a book from the shop every month since her first visit.” 

She told Dunne, “I want you to know how important this shop is to me.” 

Dunne realised that the subscription service could replicate the familiarity of coming to the shop for those unable to visit in person. “By calling it a subscription, it formalised something we’d already been doing,” Dunne explains.  

Taking on the legacy of Heywood Hill, Dunne steps into the shoes of George Heywood Hill and beloved writer Nancy Mitford — shoes that were already impossibly large — and somehow, Dunne has managed to make them his own.

Once a political consultant, Dunne traded campaigns for bookshelves and has spent the last 14 years breathing new life into the shop.

Yet despite his role in Heywood Hill’s modern prosperity, Dunne insists the heart of Heywood Hill lies in the shop itself.

“It hasn’t changed much at all. There’s something nice about having been on the same street for 90 years. People come back to us for that familiarity, that regularity — the fact that we’re still there.” 

Where the streets of London are prone to regular facelifts and reinvention, there’s something to be said about the immutable things that still stand today.

The familiar today often only lies in passed down family recipes or shoulder-padded jackets from great-aunts, and rarely in stores where each shelf seems to whisper the same comforting refrain it has for decades. 

This sense of care extends beyond the walls of the store and falls into the hands of the people behind Heywood Hill. For a place so credited in book curation and library assembling — most notably acting as bookseller to Queen Elizabeth, who was rumoured to have been a fan of a few detective novels — I couldn’t help but feel sheer panic at just the thought in how much trust one must have of their taste to do the job.  

Yet, for Dunne the work was never about asserting taste, and it has by no means acted to show off literary prowess – it’s only ever been about attention, and the understanding that arises from listening. “Reading taste is deeply personal, so when people come to us, we get to know their taste and we become part of a ritual in some ways.” 

And in a world where reading is constantly reduced to a second thought – or worse, a token of the ‘performative’ – and industries grapple with the presence of AI, Dunne quietly stakes his claim.

Shaking off any AI-induced sweats, he casually states, “We say human rhythms, not algorithms.” A phrase I’m envious I didn’t come up with first.  

So what's next for Heywood Hill?

Continuing to stun bibliophiles across the world, the new London's Greatest Book Subscription includes exclusive author recommendations from leading writers, curated reading-lists by decade stretching back to 1936, specially designed bookplates and bookmarks by celebrated illustrator Cressida Bell, exclusive essays, hand-picked archival tales from Heywood Hill’s history, and surprise gifts.

For those who prefer a more tangible experience, the charm of Heywood Hill’s iconic Mayfair shop remains ever-present. And in the words of Dunne, “When you are feeling too burdened by the world, you can come into Heywood Hill and leave feeling a bit better.” 

Find out more about London’s Greatest Book Subscription here.