Hot Press named Publisher of the Year at PPA Awards

Hot Press has been named as the Publisher Of The Year in Ireland. The award was presented to Hot Press publisher and editor Niall Stokes at a gala dinner, held by the PPA Ireland, at The Four Season's Hotel, in Dublin.

The PPA Ireland Magazine Awards were created four years ago to recognise and reward the best Irish magazines in a number of sectors. 350 people from the publishing industry, representing nearly 200 Irish titles, gathered at the event to pay tribute to the outstanding achievements of this year's winners.

"There's a lot of very positive things happening in magazine publishing in Ireland at the moment, so this is a very welcome endorsement of what we are doing at Hot Press," Niall Stokes commented.

"With a significant increase in readership, it's been a very good year for the magazine at home – and we've been building on this with a strong TV campaign over the past two months. However, at this stage, Hot Press is a very strong brand which is very highly regarded internationally. With that in mind, we have been looking at opportunities in the international market and this emphasis on business development will bear fruit in January with the launch of Hot Press Australia."

hotpress.com was identified as an outstanding part of Hot Press' publishing achievements. The website has been successfully established as a subscription destination, with membership continuing to grow through 2004. Hot Press is also the publisher of MQ, the quarterly magazine of IMRO, and of Enterprise, the on-board magazine of the Enterprise Express.

"We have been identifying opportunities for quality, editorially-driven magazines that would sit comfortably alongside Hot Press, and both MQ and Enterprise fit excellently in this regard," Mairin Sheehy, MD of Hot Press added.

"Over a million passengers travel every year on the Enterprise Express, so this is an especially exciting magazine to be involved in producing. With quality titles like Enterprise and MQ in mind, this is an area of the business that we believe will develop strongly over the next twelve months."

The PPA Ireland Magazine Awards 2004 winners are:

* Consumer Magazine of the Year is U magazine from Harmonia. Sponsored by Newspread, the award was presented by Laurence Roe to editor Deirdre O'Keeffe.

* Publisher of the Year is Niall Stokes of Hot Press whose titles include Hot Press, MQ, Enterprise and hotpress.com. The award was sponsored by Lithographic Web Press and presented by Tony Amoroso.

* Consumer Specialist Magazine of the Year, sponsored by WNS, went to House and Home from Dyflin Publications.

* Business to Business Magazine of the Year, sponsored by An Post, went to Checkout.

* Business to Business Specialist Magazine of the Year, sponsored by the Boylan Group, went to Hospitality Ireland.

* Editor of the Year is Roisin Carabine of House and Home Products for House and Home, Build Your Own House and Home, Renovate Your House and Home and Irish Kitchens and Bathrooms.

* Designer of the Year is Garret Whelan of Harmonia for Cara and SQ Christmas Magazine. The award is sponsored by Future Print.

* Customer Magazine of the Year went to A Magazine from HMG Advertising and Marketing for Eddie Shanahan at Arnotts and was sponsored by Sooner Than Later.

* Annual of the Year, sponsored by Polestar went to Build Your Own House and Home from Dyflin Publications.

* Interactive Magazine of the Year is the website www.iVenus.com here from Harmonia. The award is sponsored by Combined Media was presented by Colm Lynam.

* Religious Magazine of the Year is The Word from Divine Word Missionaries.

The chairman of the judging panel, Mr. Steve Shanahan, Chief Executive, Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) emphasised the positive outlook for magazines in 2005.

"I am pleased to see ABC as the co-sponsor of these awards," he said. "It demonstrates a commitment by PPA Ireland to the openness and transparency of circulation figures. This, combined with two substantial pieces of research on both consumer and B2B magazines which PPAI published in the last year shows an investment in their industry and gives advertisers added confidence in the power of magazines as an advertising medium".

Joining Steve on the judging panel were Tom McGowan, of Unilever and President of the AAI; Laurence Roe, MD of Newspread: Gerry Davis, Chief Executive, Public Relations Institute of Ireland; Tara Buckley, Director General, RGDATA; Mark Smith, Chairman, Northern Ireland Region of the Institute of Public Relations; and Ray Douglas, Creative Director, Anderson Spratt Advertising.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Chairperson of PPA Ireland, Gerry Daly said "the Executive of PPA Ireland has had a very extensive agenda to deliver on during the past twelve months, and significant achievements have been made in developing and promoting the Irish magazine industry.

"Despite being challenged by increased costs of production and delivery, and by even greater competition, the industry has reported increasing revenues, and increased profits, and it is refreshing to see the number of publishers who are investing in new concepts, and creating excellent developments of existing products.

"The evidence for the continuing success of Irish magazines is their ranking as best sellers in every category, and the superb service offered to business customers. At tonight's Magazine Awards, we are delighted to be able to recognise such dynamism and entrepreneurial skill."

Pictured left to right: Hot Press' Niall Stokes, Tony Amoroso and John Bowman