London Press Club awards: Evening Standard wins Newspaper of the Year

Today's Evening Standard front page

The London Evening Standard has been named Newspaper of the Year at the London Press Club awards.

The paper, a stable mate to The Independent, was praised for its strong news coverage, presentation, investigative reporting and campaigning on social issues.

Bill Hagerty, head of judges at the awards said: “Despite relatively modest resources, [the Evening Standard] had expanded and sharpened its news coverage, regularly produced visually arresting front and inside pages and run confidently with a tremendous series entitled Frontline London, an investigation and campaign that penetrated London gangs and enlisted support from potential employers to help young people leave a life of crime.”

Simon Neville, retail correspondent with The Independent and London Evening Standard, was named Business Journalist of the Year who the judges said had “proved a sharp thorn in the side of the government and the retail industry with his campaign and exposure of the extent of Zero Hours contracts for retail and hospitality workers”.

The Edgar Wallace Award for reporting of the highest quality was given to the former deputy editor of The Independent Ian Birrell for his writing for The Independent, the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Mail and The Guardian.