The title also won in the Business & Professional Magazine of the Year, Publishing Star and Sales Performance of the Year categories in the 10th anniversary of the Scottish magazine industry’s main event.
More than 250 guests joined in the celebrations at the gala dinner and award ceremony hosted by comedienne and ventriloquist Nina Conti at the Radisson BLU Hotel in Glasgow on Thursday 25 October.
To celebrate ten years of the event, this year’s Scottish Magazine Awards included a one-off category of Scottish Magazine Cover of the Decade. From 262 entries, the judges decided on a shortlist of 12 covers that were put to an online public vote and, after a total of 5,213 votes, the winner was announced as Boots & Spurs.
The Murray Cochran Award, established in 2009 to recognise the outstanding achievement and contribution made by an individual to the Scottish magazine publishing industry, went to Kathy Crawford Hay, who is to become an independent consultant after serving publishers in the region for nine years in her role as Business Manager of PPA Scotland.
Paisley firm Connect Communications was also a winner on the night, taking four awards in total: Best Brand Extension for The Scottish Dental Show; Business & Professional Magazine Editor for Peter Nicholson and his work on the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland; Feature Writer of the Year for Richard Croasdale and his work on Unfiltered; and Staff Magazine of the Year for Pulse, for NHS National Services Scotland.
DC Thomson also picked up three awards for their magazines aimed at young people: WWE Kids won Magazine Cover of the Year; Animals and You won Best Consumer Magazine Design; and The Official Jacqueline Wilson Magazine won Consumer Magazine of the Year.
Christina McPherson was named Magazine Publishing Graduate of the Year, an award which is given in recognition of the close ties developed between PPA Scotland and Edinburgh Napier University, and is open to students who have graduated in the MSc Publishing course.
The Chairman’s Award went to Stir, a magazine published by prisoners for prisoners with the support of Motherwell College.
In her final year as PPA Scotland Business Manager, Kathy Crawford Hay said: "We’re delighted to see so much talent and achievement recognised this evening. The fantastic response we received to the Scottish Magazine Cover of the Decade category and the wonderful support shown by publishers in Scotland is truly overwhelming, and continues to show just how strong the magazine publishing sector is in Scotland."
The 2012 Scottish Magazine Award winners
Scottish Magazine of the Year
Times Educational Supplement Scotland – TSL Education Magazine Publishing
Postgraduate of the Year
Christina McPherson – Edinburgh Napier University
Chairman’s Award
Stir – Motherwell College
Brand Extension of the Year
The Scottish Dental Show – Connect Communications
Business & Professional Magazine
Times Educational Supplement Scotland – TSL Education
Business & Professional Magazine Design
The Biologist – Think
Business & Professional Magazine Editor
Peter Nicholson – Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, Connect Communications
Consumer Magazine
The Official Jacqueline Wilson Magazine – DC Thomson
Consumer Magazine Design
Animals and You – DC Thomson
Consumer Magazine Editor
Richard Bath – Scottish Field, Wyvex Media
Customer Magazine
Escape – Think
Feature Writer
Richard Croasdale – Unfiltered, Connect Communications
Magazine Cover of the Decade
Boots & Spurs – Matthew Ball Editorial Design
Magazine Cover of the Year
WWE Kids – DC Thomson
Member Magazine
Scottish Mountaineer – Newsquest (Herald & Times)
Digital Magazine
Standard, White Light Media
Online Presence
www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk – Newsquest (Herald & Times)
Publishing Star
Neil Munro – TSL Education
Sales Performance
Linzi Carr – Times Educational Supplement Scotland, TSL Education
Small Publishing Company
Fusion Flowers – Fusion Flowers
Staff Magazine
Pulse – Connect Communications
The Judges
Alastair Balfour, Chairman, Company Creators Ltd
David McMurray, Publishing Consultant and Chairman of Judges
Nick Haworth, Creative Director, Primitive Media
Peter Martin, General Manager Magazines, Menzies Distribution
Sam Kelly, Programme Leader MA Creative Writing, Edinburgh Napier University
Simon Esterson, Design Consultant, Esterson Associates
Sophia Dempsey, Publisher, Motor Sport Magazine
Terry Watson, Founding Director, Palmer Watson
Tim Langford, Managing Director, JLD Media
The Sponsors
PPA Scotland thanks the following companies for their generous support: Acorn Web Offset, Air Business, Dovetail, Headley Brothers, JJP Print & Promotion, Kantar Media, Matthew Ball Design, MCL Edinburgh, Menzies Distribution, Paramount Printers, Pensord, Primitive Media and Scottish Viewpoint.