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Home | The British Book Awards

Small Press of the Year 2025

Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and chair of The British Book Awards, said: “These 10 Small Press winners, ranging from new players Bedford Square and VERVE Books to established publishers Seren Books and Bluemoose Books, are at the heart of today’s re-shaped publishing business. Regional but with a national focus, commercial yet value-led, intentional but flexible, these businesses do the hard-yards on behalf of their writers, while building brands and recruiting readers for the future.”

The Small Press of the Year winner will also join the shortlist for Independent Publisher of the Year.

East England
Island of Ireland
London
Midlands
North England
Scotland
South-East England
South-West England
Wales

The Winner

Sweet Cherry Publishing

Midlands

From a shortlist of 10 small presses – all winners in their own right from the regional and country rounds of this award – it is children’s publisher and Midlands champion Sweet Cherry Publishing that is the best of the best, for the second time in five years.

Sweet Cherry’s team and sales both grew by nearly half in 2024 – at this rate it will not be eligible for Small Press of the Year for much longer. Amazon and school and library suppliers powered the UK performance and there were exports and rights deals in more than 30 countries.

More important than this is the stellar effort that Sweet Cherry has made to increase access to books – work that also earns it places on the Nibbies’ shortlists for both Children’s and Academic, Professional and Educational Publisher of the Year. It ran numerous visits to schools in 2024 and supplied underfunded ones with heavily discounted books via BookTrust and the National Literacy Trust.

Inclusion has just stepped up another gear with the launch of Every Cherry, a ground-breaking new imprint for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), which is helping to fill a glaring gap in provision for the UK’s 1.6 million children with learning difficulties “Sweet Cherry do so much to help every child find and enjoy books… they’re as diverse and accessible as publishing gets,” said the judges.

Having won this category, Sweet Cherry Publishing also joins the shortlist for Independent Publisher of the Year.

Winners

Verve Books

East England

Verve Books, the East England winner, started to motor in its sixth year. It stepped up its frontlist and had a breakout hit in Chloe Michelle Howarth’s debut Sunburn, now into its ninth print run. Events, including an Indie Showcase with other presses, were a big feature. As at many small presses, there is heavy emphasis on championing voices from neglected backgrounds and cutting environmental impacts.

Banshee Press

Island of Ireland

Banshee Press is the Island of Ireland winner for the second year in a row. Its part-time team, backed by the Arts Council of Ireland and others, run a small books list and literary journal showcasing Irish literary voices that wouldn’t otherwise be heard. Several of them earned critical acclaim and places on poetry prize shortlists last year. Banshee’s cover design and publicity are both notably good.

Bedford Square

London

Bedford Square is the London winner. Just two years old, it already feels like part of the trade furniture. Crime fiction from its acquisition of No Exit Press has helped it hit the ground running, and investment in systems and data-driven marketing has laid the foundations for growth. There was a bag full of awards and book of the month or year spots, led by Ilana Berry’s hit debut The Peacock and the Sparrow.

Sweet Cherry Publishing

Midlands

Sweet Cherry is the Midlands winner. It is rewarded for Every Cherry, its groundbreaking new imprint for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities—another step in its mission to make reading available to all, regardless of circumstances. Bad Betty Press is Highly Commended in the Midlands category.

Bluemoose Books

North England

“A small but mighty literary hit factory" is how The Guardian described Bluemoose Books, the joint North England winner. It’s got a far higher profile than its size would suggest, and an international reach that has seen it sell 300,000 copies of Rónán Hession’s Leonard and Hungry Paul. Bluemoose has great partnerships with indie booksellers and is now setting up the Centre of Publishing Excellence with UCLan.

Dead Ink Books

North England

Joint North England winner Dead Ink had a landmark year in 2024, as Arts Council England investment paid off with a four-fold jump in sales. Its bold publishing often finds the sweet spot between literary and commercial fiction, and Nero Award winner Adam S. Leslie’s Lost in the Garden was the standout. The acquisition of several authors by bigger publishers was a mark of its success—albeit frustrating.

404 Ink

Scotland

Edinburgh-based 404 Ink is the Scotland winner for the second year in a row. Its distinctive and inclusive publishing included the Gathering collection of nature writing, Genevieve Jagger’s Fragile Animals and the Inklings series of short non-fiction. Everything was done by just two people, founders Heather McDaid and Laura Jones-Rivera, who used events and social media to build a profile that belies its size.

Author In Me

South-East England

Author in Me is the winner in the South East England region and a vital incubator for new and under-represented authors. As well as mentoring and practical publishing support it has grown the Author in Me Literary Festival from a two-hour online event to a week-long celebration at multiple London venues and with a spin-off Young Voices strand, supported by Arts Council England.

From You To Me

South-West England

South-West England winner From You to Me grew sales by a quarter in 2024—reward for the very high quality of its gifting books, journals and stationery. The family-run business extended its reach into many new channels and developed very effective digital marketing strategies. Direct control over its made-to-order personalised titles means it can provide very high standards of customer service.

Seren Books

Wales

Bridgend’s Seren Books, appearing at the Nibbies for the first time, is the Wales winner. It’s overdue reward for its support of English-language literature from Wales over more than 40 years, but also for a reinvention in 2024 under new CEO Bronwen Price. It’s coped well with funding challenges and given its authors visibility beyond the Welsh border, including via multiple literary prize wins and nominations.