Argent Colour, Colour Systems and Graphic Facilities are up for the Best Magazine Repro Company award, while Ailec Mailing Services, Key Promotions and Polestar Connect are nominated in the Best Magazine Finishing Company category.

The awards ceremony takes place on the evening of 28 November following the PPA Production 2002 Conference.

The PPA has expanded the remit of this years conference to focus on all magazine production issues, not just the digitisation of the process.

PrintWeek editor in chief Jo Francis will moderate the conferences question time, where Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert and St Ives Web managing director David Emeny will be among the panel members.

The conference also includes sessions on colour management, MIS, press sizes and an update on pass4press, the PPAs digital file transmission standard.

Other categories at the awards include Production Initiative of the Year and Best Magazine Production Newcomer.

Haymarket, PrintWeeks publisher, has been shortlisted in the Best Magazine Production Team category, where it will face opposition from teams from BBC Worldwide, Emap, IPC Southbank, NatMags and Reed Business Information.

The awards will feature comedian Sean Meo.

Contact: Charene Harris, 020 7404 4166; www.ppa.co.uk.

Story by Gordon Carson