The independent children’s book publisher, Sweet Cherry – the publishing partner for Numberblocks, Alphablocks, and The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, has been named a Regional and Country Winner for the Small Press of the Year in the Midlands.

Having made the cut, the book publisher is now in the running to be crowned Small Press of the Year at the British Book Awards 2021.

Hosted by The Bookseller, the judging panel for the awards praised the Leicester-based publishing house’s efforts in 2020, championing it for doubling its export sales in 2020 and highlighting the firm’s diversity with “half of its management from BAME backgrounds.”

Sweet Cherry hit record-breaking sales in 2020 despite being based in Leicester, one of the longest-suffering UK cities during the pandemic. Staff have been working home since March 2020 and the company has been able to publish its new children’s books as planned. 

Lara Clift, publisher and sales director at Sweet Cherry, said: “We are over the moon to have won the regional finalist award in the Midlands. The team has worked so hard during the pandemic and we could not be any happier.” 

The full shortlist for the awards will be announced on Friday 19th March 2021.