46 small presses as regional and country finalists for

The British Book Awards 2025 Small Press of the Year, announced today

Small presses from across the United Kingdom and Ireland defied a soft books market with determined, original and inventive publishing, as they battled increased costs and a mixed economic outlook.

The British Book Awards 2025 Small Press of the Year, sponsored by CPI Books, celebrates the independent presses dedicated to delivering books which reach beyond the traditional literary landscape.

There are 46 small presses listed across nine different regions and countries, including ten in London, eight in North England, seven in Wales, and five in Midlands and Scotland.

The presses—all with a turnover of less than £5m—will compete to win their region first before contending for the overall prize, when The British Book Awards ceremony returns to Grosvenor House London on Monday 12th May 2025. The overall Small Press winner will also vie to be crowned Independent Publisher of the Year.

Philip Jones, editor The Bookseller and chair of the judges for The British Book Awards, said: “ This cohort of smaller publishers never fails to impress me. In 2024 they ducked, dived, hunkered down, and then double- downed to come out from a tough year in magnificent shape. Here, every sale is hard-gained, no author left behind, with many of these presses putting the onus

East England

Dedalus Limited | Sawtry, Cambridgeshire

Verve Books | Harpenden

Scorpius Books | Essex

 

Island of Ireland

Banshee Press | Cork

Lilliput Press | Dublin

 

London

Scallywag Press | Pimlico

Muswell Press| Mayfair

Jacaranda Books Art Music | Bloomsbury

Aurora Metro and Supernova Books |

Richmond

Bedford Square Publishers | Bloomsbury

Out-Spoken Press | Willesden

Orenda Books | Tulse Hill

Renard Press | Clapton

Arachne Press | Camberwell

SRL Publishing | Fitzrovia

 

Midlands

Otter Barry Books | Hereford Bad Betty Press| Nottingham The Emma Press | Birmingham

Sweet Cherry Publishing | Leicester

Henson Editorial | Stoke-on-Trent

 

North England

Saraband | Manchester

Peepal Tree Press | Leeds

Carcanet Press | Manchester

on human creativity as the foundation of their businesses. In a mixed environment for small press publishing, these finalists stepped up and made themselves big, getting noticed within and without their niches as they grew sales and pivoted towards the main-stream.”

Last year’s regional and country winners return to reclaim their crowns, including Scorpius Books (East England), Fly On The Wall Press (North England), 404 Ink (Scotland), Peirene Press (South-West England) and Firefly Press (Wales).

Meanwhile, London remains a standout region with ten finalists and North England have eight finalists, with four finalists based in Manchester alone. Wales are vying for supremacy with seven finalists, the Midlands and Scotland have five finalists each, and South-West, South-East and East England have three finalists.

Prize-winning small presses make up the shortlist, including Dead Ink Books (North England), Liverpool’s publisher which won this year’s Nero Fiction Prize for Lost in the Garden by Adam S Leslie.

The booming children’s industry is present throughout the finalists, with small presses dedicated to imaginative and diverse children’s such as UCLan Publishing (North England), Sweet Cherry Publishing (Midlands), Guppy Books (South-East England), Scallywag Press (London), Firefly Press (Wales), Rily Publications (Wales) and Otter Barry Books (Midlands) all celebrated.

Small presses fuelled by passion and specialisms remain popular for this award, including SRL Publishing (London), the world’s first climate-positive publisher; Charco Press (London), a small press translating the best of contemporary Latin American literature into English for the first time; Author in Me (South-East England), the team behind AIM, the South-East Asian literary festival; Books on the Hill, the publisher committed to promoting dyslexic-friendly books; Rymour Books, a small press originally founded to publish Scottish folklore; and Out-Spoken Press (London), a press challenging the lack of diversity in publishing.

Sponsored by CPI Group, CPI Books’ m.d. Tanya Dunbar comments: “CPI is delighted to continue its sponsorship of the small press award once again. Small publishers have had a wonderful year and continue to be an essential and creative part of the publishing world, and we are proud to be part of their success.”

UCLan Publishing | Preston

Bluemoose Books | Hebden Bridge

Dead Ink Books | Liverpool

Fly On The Wall Press | Manchester

Comma Press | Manchester

 

Scotland

The Wee Book Company | Glasgow

404 Ink | Edinburgh

Rymour Books | Perth

Scotland Street Press | Edinburgh

Charco Press | Edinburgh

 

South-East England Hashtag Press | Kent

Author In Me | High Wycombe

Guppy Books | Didcot

 

South-West England Peirene Press | Bath

From You To Me | Bath

Books on the Hill | Bristol

Wales

Seren Books | Bridgend

Parthian | Swansea

Rily Publications | Caerphilly

Firefly Press | Cardiff

Lucent Dreaming | Cardiff

Broken Sleep Books | Llandysul

Graffeg Limited | Llanelli

The regional and country winners of the Small Press of the Year award will be announced on Monday 10th March 2025; the overall winner will be revealed during The British Book Awards ceremony at Grosvenor House on Monday 12th May 2025.

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