The British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) has signed a multi-year extension to its partnership with Western Business Media (WBM), which will see the BSIF continue to exclusively support WBM’s publications and the Safety and Health Excellence Awards.

The extension sees the continuation of the long-standing partnership between both parties and Health and Safety Matters (HSM) magazine will remain the official publication of the BSIF and the only independent voice of the health and safety sector. HSM is the market-leading publication in the health and safety market and has 18,000 circulation for its print edition and more than 50,000 unique monthly visitors to its website www.hsmsearch.com

HSM will also continue to produce dedicated e-newsletters to promote the BSIF’s activities to the sector and directly to the inboxes of BSIF members. The BSIF will also continue to support and provide content for WBM’s other publications, which include Fire Safety Matters, Handling and Storage Solutions, Industrial Plant & Equipment, Manufacturing Matters Ireland, Controls Drives and Automation, Cleaning Matters and Security Matters.

In addition, the prestigious BSIF Awards will remain the focal point of the Safety and Health Excellence Awards, which will take place on 29 April at the VOX, NEC Birmingham and be hosted by comedian Hugh Dennis. The Safety and Health Excellence Awards were jointly founded by WBM and BSIF in 2018 and have fast become the must-attend networking event for the health and safety and fire safety sectors. Last year, more than 550 attended the awards and there were in excess of 200 entries to the awards categories.

The new agreement comes just weeks after Mark Sennett, Danny Kosifou and Keith Gabriel completed the purchase of the publications and the Safety and Health Excellence Awards from Nineteen Group and re-branded as Western Business Media. Since partnering with WBM (previously Western Business Exhibitions), the BSIF has seen a significant growth in its membership and HSM also seen significant growth in its readership. BSIF chief executive Alan Murray comments: “ BSIF value hugely our partnership with WBM. For us and our members a media partnership needs to recognise our ambitions and be truly aligned philosophically with our objectives. I am extremely proud of our association and our partnership with WBM.”

Western Business Media CEO Mark Sennett adds: “We’ve worked with the BSIF for a number of years and they have been a key partner for us in helping establish our magazines as the market leaders in their sectors. The Safety and Health Excellence Awards have also been embraced by the sector and continue to grow from strength-to-strength.

“We are excited to extend our partnership with BSIF who work tirelessly to continue to raise safety standards. The BSIF’s growing membership are hugely engaged with our publications and the awards. We look forward to providing them with the latest news from the sector to help them in the vital work that they do to keep people and premises safe.”