The prestigious annual awards, which took place on the evening of 1st December 2009, were presented by serial entrepreneur, James Caan. Sigaria took the awards for both 'Business Magazine of the Year' and 'Brand Extension of the Year'.

Commended for its professional image and high-quality editorial, Procurement Leaders magazine was praised for its intelligent industry analysis and reviews from Fortune 500 executives. The judging panel also highlighted Procurement Leaders' outstanding attractiveness to advertisers, citing the publication's increase in advertising revenues of over 100% from 2008 to 2009 as a "remarkable financial performance in difficult times".

In an environment in which publishers are facing increased financial strain, as well as pressure caused by the fast-evolving social media landscape, Sigaria also scooped the top prize in the 'Brand Extension of the Year' category, a category that it was highly commended in at the 2008 awards. The judges noted that Sigaria had successfully recognised the need for a publishing business to offer a broad array of services to survive, commending the Procurement Leaders Network for its large portfolio of complimentary brands including the Procurement Leaders Forum, it's annual awards, blog and the weekly newsfeed.

The judges also highlighted the huge potential brought about by the launch of the Procurement Intelligence Unit (PIU). The PIU was launched in June this year to work with procurement departments across the world, providing independent market intelligence, research and benchmarking. The PIU analyses and researches market data, trends and hot topics in order to define procurement best practice and innovation for the future.

"We are delighted that Procurement Leaders has been recognised by our industry peers at this year's Independent Publisher Awards," says David Rae, Editor of Procurement Leaders. "We pride ourselves on being able to offer our readership intelligent, high quality and topical news and analysis and this award reflects this commitment. This accolade has shown that Procurement Leaders is seen as the most valuable resource by industry professionals and we look forward to continuing to build this resource for all those involved in the function."

"In the current economic climate, it is critical that businesses make the right strategic decisions to ensure their survival," says Mark Perera, CEO, Sigaria. "Both the Procurement Leaders Network and PIU provide a source of information and data that greatly helps organisations take the right steps in managing risk, reducing costs and improving performance in these highly-competitive times. We are really excited about this award win and 2009 has been a great year for all involved. Moving into 2010 and beyond, we will endeavour to work with the best contacts in the industry to ensure members are always up-to-date with the most critical issues to help them navigate these challenging economic times." 

Presentations by sourcing professionals from global giants such as Diageo, Schindler and Akzo Nobel were complemented with panel discussions and presentations from finance professionals and economists, making it an extremely rounded day’s learning.

Grace Puma, CPO of United Airlines; Lothar Steinbach, executive VP and CFO of Henkel; and Guy Verberne, head of economics and investment strategy at Fortis Bank, all added to the quality of the programme. The event was chaired by Sammy Rashed, head of global sourcing, global sites, Novartis, who pointed out the truly global nature of the audience which was represented by 25 countries, 19 languages and 38 industries.

“The Procurement Leaders Forum in Amsterdam really touched the next level with excellent presenters and networking on a global scale,” said Forum delegate Gert van Beek, global procurement category director at Reed Elsevier.

Tim McBride, CPO of the Redmond-based software giant, will be joined by Frank Crespo, VP and chief procurement officer of Honeywell, in delivering keynote presentations to an audience of senior US purchasing, sourcing and supply chain executives. Delegate passes will be allocated on an invitation only basis.

The Forum, which will be held on 24 March 2010 at River East Art Center, Chicago, is being supported by some of the most prestigious consulting firms in procurement, with Accenture, CapGemini and BrainNet all sponsoring the event.

“North America is an extremely important market for us and it was imperative that we got the timing and approach right,” said Alex Martinez, managing director, publishing at Sigaria. “Following the widespread success of the PLN in Europe, we have conducted extensive research with US based CPO's this year and feel that March is perfect timing for our first major conference in the region. With the global economy recovering it offers the perfect opportunity for procurement executives to step back and think about the long term again.”

The PIU, launched by Sigaria earlier this year, is a vendor-free membership community that provides a single destination for understanding the market conditions, best practices, cross-industry approaches and hot topics in procurement from all corners of the world.

With some of the largest companies in the world already signed up as chartered members, the PIU promises to differentiate leading companies from followers and help strategic sourcing executives make better decisions in innovative areas such as supply chain finance and demand management.

Mark Perera, chief executive of the PIU, explained just how crucial market intelligence is. “One of our clients experienced a rate of inflation in one of its commodities of 1100% in a single year,” he said. “Proper intelligence allows you to prepare for such events.”

The flagship title of publishing and information provider Sigaria was shortlisted in two categories, Monthly Business Magazine of the Year and Columnist of the Year (Business Media), for which its regular columnist Neil Deverill was picked out.

The awards are seen as the 'Oscars' of the British publishing industry, and will see Procurement Leaders fight it out with magazines and writers from many of the biggest publishing companies in the world.

"These shortlists are testament to how far Procurement Leaders has come in such a short space of time," said Alex Martinez, managing director of Sigaria's publishing division. "Providing cutting-edge, insightful products has always been the core objective of this company and it's gratifying to see that independent assessment by industry experts backs this up."

David Rae, editorial director of Sigaria, said that the content of the magazine made it difficult for the judges to ignore. "The aim of the magazine is to provide a window into the thoughts and beliefs of some of the most senior procurement executives in the profession," he said. "Neil Deverill's shortlist is a good example of this."

The showcase event will be preceded by its annual awards ceremony on the evening of 12 May, both of which will be held at Banqueting House, Whitehall in London.

The Forum, which is the industry’s highest-profile gathering of senior procurement talent promises to be even better than last year, with IBM’s global head of procurement, John Paterson, set to speak together with Novartis CPO Philip Duncan and Johnson & Johnson CPO Hans Melotte.

Alex Martinez, event organiser and marketing director at Sigaria, said that both events would bring together the brightest minds in purchasing. “2009 promises to be a truly great event. We have some of the most respected figures in world procurement already signed up and Banqueting House provides a fitting location for such an esteemed gathering,” he said. “As the economy looks increasingly fragile, business leaders need to develop their networks and share ideas. The London Forum will provide the perfect platform.”

Michelle Perkins, who joined Sigaria from Global Insight, has brought a wealth of experience in corporate research services to the company, said CEO Mark Perera. “Michelle is an excellent addition to the senior team at Sigaria,” he said. “Her knowledge of procurement combined with her long experience in the field of research promises to bring real value to network members.”

Perkins will work closely with the editorial director David Rae to help complement the existing editorial services already offered by Procurement Leaders. As a result, said Perera, network members would have access to topical, in depth and deeply relevant editorial – the like of which is unavailable anywhere else.

The Advisory Board will be steered by Neil Deverill, the former CPO of Royal Philips and Anglo American. The aim of the Advisory Board is to provide an independent and robust platform which can be used to define the future direction of the Procurement Leaders Network as well as the member services it provides.

Neil Deverill, Advisory Board chairman, said, “Procurement and supply chain management in general is developing well as a discipline, but it still needs to change up a gear or two to fully realise the potential that it can provide. Until now, the impetus for improvement has tended to be patchy and sometimes fragmented, lacking a clear point of focus for knowledge and information.”

It is that focus that the Advisory Board will provide, not only for the Network but for the wider procurement profession.

John Paterson, global head of procurement at IBM, said that, currently, procurement professionals must be focused on several areas; including the role they have to play in the current economic climate, the globalisation of supply chains and of the procurement function; sustainability and supply chain security. “I joined the board to help make these topics top of mind for our industry,” he said.

But skills is another topic close to the top of his list of priorities. “I hope the board can influence academia to take a stronger look at the procurement profession and to address the needs of industry as we look to recruit and develop new talent,” said Paterson. “Procurement is exciting, it's global and it offers a lot of opportunities. But unless ‘Generation Y’ is introduced to it as an option, it's not going to get any easier to attract them.”

The title received a Highly Commended award for Brand Extension in the Periodical Publishers ’ Association Independent Publisher Awards 2008, celebrated in London during May. It was also Highly Commended in the Best Paid-For Website category of the Periodical Publisher ’ s Association Magazine Awards 2008 for editorial and publishing excellence, widely regarded as the ‘ Oscars ’ of the magazine publishing world and which recognised titles such as BBC , Esquire and GQ. The magazine also received a finalist position in the IPAC Awards for Best Magazine and Sigaria Ltd was a finalist for Best Independent Publishing Company.

Mark Perera , Chief Executive of Sigaria, commented, "As an independent publisher I am delighted that Procurement Leaders is rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in world publishing, which shows how far we have come in such a short space of time. The fact that we have picked up multiple accolades in our first year of entering the awards is testament to the unprecedented quality and efforts of our team and the ongoing support of clients and partners. We will continue with our commitment to deliver award recognised content and services to our community."

David Rae, editor of Procurement Leaders, said, “This is timely recognition of the growing success of both the magazine and the readers it serves. There really is no better time to be reporting on, and to, the procurement profession. I have no doubt that we will pick up one of these awards next time.”