Edward Elgar wins Independent Publisher of the Year at IPG Awards

Law and social sciences publisher Edward Elgar Publishing has picked up the CPI Independent Publisher of the Year award at this year’s Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) Awards.

Edward Elgar Publishing won the flagship award for the second time, six years after its triumph in 2017. Accepting the award, m.d. Timothy Williams said: “We’re totally thrilled, because this award matters. And it matters to our staff as well, who work throughout the year to do right by our authors, and I think they’re going to be absolutely delighted when we turn up to the office tomorrow morning with this award, so thank you IPG.”

Applauded for combining “longevity with constant innovation,” the publisher also took the title of ProQuest Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year. 

Bloomsbury won both the HP Sustainability Award and the Virtusales Metadata Award. Another double winner was Bonnier Books, which received the Alison Morrison Diversity and Inclusivity Award and shared the Zebralution Audio Award with Belle Media.

Joffe Books won an IPG award for the first time, taking home the PBShop Trade Publisher of the Year award. Bonnier Books, Belle Media and Canongate, which won The Bookseller Marketing Award, also won IPG awards for the first time this year. Two more first timers, Moonflower Books and Phoenix Publishing House, were the joint winners of the Nick Robinson Newcomer Award.

For the second time in a row, David & Charles won the READ Media Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year, while Nosy Crow won the Clays Children’s Publisher of the Year category for the seventh time in 11 years. Kate Wilson, m.d., focused on praising distributors in her speech, calling them “the unsung heroes of our industry". She said: “Our distributor is Grantham Book Services (GBS), and we are absolutely devastated by their imminent closure. When we were working home during the pandemic […] they were shoulder to shoulder sometimes in the warehouses, picking and packing our books, making sure that goods in became good out.

“They are remarkable. They are not the best paid part of our industry, but they are absolutely essential to it. And I want to thank them all, and I am thinking particularly of our colleagues at GBS at the moment who are going through tough times.”

Atlantic Books meanwhile secured the Deanta International Award. The PLS Education Publisher of the Year award went to Jolly Learning, which won following the success of its new digital platform, Jolly Classroom.

The list of winners was completed by two individuals: Renard Press founder Will Dady, who won the Ola Gotkowska Young Independent Publisher Award, and sales representative David Segrue, winner of the Services to Independent Publishers Award. The Young Independent Publisher Award comes with a £500 prize to go towards international travelling for publishing.

The winners were chosen by 30 expert judges from a record field of 65 nominees, made up of 40 different companies and six individuals. They received their awards at a lunch held at the OXO Tower Brasserie in London on Wednesday 22nd March.

IPG chief executive Bridget Shine said: “It’s a sign of the vibrant health of independent publishing that the quantity and quality of our 2023 shortlists were higher than ever before. The awards showcase the remarkable success and diversity of independent publishers, and we are so pleased and proud to celebrate their achievements. The winners represent the very best of the best, and we salute them all.”