Boldwood wins Publisher of the Year at IPG Awards, while Bloomsbury scores hat-trick

Boldwood Books has picked up the flagship Fox Williams Independent Publisher of the Year Award and a second award at the Independent Publishers Guild Awards, while Bloomsbury has received three awards.

Boldwood Books, the independent adult fiction publisher launched by Amanda Ridout just three years ago, scooped the top prize in addition to Paperback Shop Trade Publisher of the Year, as the judges applauded its "staggering" impact and growth.

"It’s superbly run and future-proofed, and is clearly going to be a very significant publisher indeed," they said.

Accepting the award, Ridout said: "Thank you, thank you – this is an incredible moment – as everyone here knows, publishing is about collaborating. I have so many people to thank. Firstly, the brilliant Boldwood team, who are energetic, dedicated and fantastic. To our 80 brilliant authors – I know, 80 [signed] in three years – who are not only fantastic but a brilliant support network. And finally to the industry. When you’re starting out, its all about relying on your friends – thank you so much to all of them. We’re still very, very young, but we’re very, very determined. Our cheesy slogan is ’publishing reimagined’, but we have been true to that, and will continue to do so". 

Among Bloomsbury’s haul was The Alison Morrison Diversity and Inclusivity Award, The Westchester Education Services UK Education Publisher of the Year and The Bookseller Marketing Award, which was jointly presented to Usborne Publishing. 

New this year was the Zebralution Audio Award, which was won by Nosy Crow, and the Virtusales Metadata Award, which went to Kogan Page. The Nick Robinson Newcomer Award was won by Swift Press, while last year’s winner of that category, Magic Cat Publishing, took this year’s Deanta International Award.

Named Clays Children’s Publisher of the Year was Sweet Cherry Publishing, a Leicester-based indie that has been shortlisted for the prize five times in a row. PLS Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year was awarded to BAR Publishing, while IPG Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year was won by Vertebrate Publishing. 

Sweet Cherry publisher Sanjee da Silva said: "The award is dedicated to all the Sweet Cherry Team – thank you to everyone, present and past members of the team – this is an award for courage. And the secret of our success is courage."

Quarto received the HP Sustainability Award for its new Ivy Kids imprint, and digital delivery platform Glassboxx took the GBS Services to Independent Publishers Award. 

The list is completed by Aliya Gulamani of Unbound, who received the Ola Gotkowska Young Independent Publisher Award. 

"Thank you so much – congratulations to my fellow nominees, it’s a great opportunity to recognise the work that you do," she said. "Thank you to my team at Unbound – they’ve allowed me to flourish – and I want to say my condolences for Ola – she was such an amazing person – thank you Ola, for all the work you did".

The winners were chosen from a record field of 54 nominees, made up of 34 different companies and six individuals. They received their awards at a lunch ceremony at the OXO Tower Brasserie in London today (Wednesday 27th April).

“This year’s Independent Publishing Awards were our biggest yet, and the standard of entries was phenomenally high," said IPG c.e.o. Bridget Shine. "It has been a challenging two years for everyone in publishing, but you wouldn’t know it from these awards, which display the incredible resilience, innovation and diversity of IPG members. Independent publishing is flourishing, and it is an enormous pleasure to celebrate the success of all the brilliant businesses and people shortlisted at the awards."