We are delighted to announce that the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) has been shortlisted for both Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year and the Virtusales Metadata Award at the Independent Publishing Awards 2025. The winners will be announced at a Gala Lunch at OXO Tower in London on the 30th April, hosted by broadcasters Bridgid Nzekwu and Andrew Verity.
SPCK is the UK’s third-oldest publishing house, and has been active since 1698. Under CEO Sam Richardson, the company merged with Inter-Varsity Press (IVP) in 2015, and acquired Lion Hudson in 2021, becoming the largest Christian publisher in the country.
Independent Publishing Awards of SPCK’s nomination for Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year:
‘SPCK is a three-time winner of this Award, and is shortlisted again having revived its fortunes after a challenging few years in its field of Christian publishing. It had its highest ever sales and market share – the result of publishing fewer books better and finding new global markets… Judges said: “SPCK [is] always striving to do more and be THE voice in its field.”’
The Independent Publishing Awards also said of SPCK’s nomination for the Virtusales Metadata Award:
‘SPCK has substantially improved the breadth and accuracy of its data lately, and it focused its strategies in two areas in 2024: its own metadata in the US, and the inbound feeds of partner publishers into the UK. Judges said: “SPCK shows a real commitment to metadata excellence. It understands its value and is focusing improvements in the correct areas.”’
Sam Richardson, CEO of SPCK, said:
“We are thrilled to have been nominated for both Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year – an award which SPCK has won three times previously – and the Virtusales Metadata award. Both these decisions are testament to superb new strategies that we have put in place regarding our publishing, which saw us deliver a 20% increase in sales in 2024, and we are delighted to see these achievements reflected in these Independent Publishing Awards 2025 nominations.”
Patrycja Moroszczuk, Marketing Development Manager at SPCK, said:
“We are incredibly proud of the progress SPCK has made. These nominations are a clear indication to the hard work and dedication of our team, and we’re excited to continue building on this momentum. In 2024, we achieved the Silver BIC Metadata Excellence Award recognizing the completeness and timeliness of all our products. At the same time, our new partnership with Ingram US is helping us enhance our metadata management for both front and backlist titles on an internation scale.”
SPCK CEO Sam Richardson is available for interview.
Press contact: Emily Beater; ebeater@spck.org.uk; 07494430503
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