THE Worcester News has a new office in the city.

Our teams that produce the Worcester News and its sister titles will now be based at Redhill House in London Road.

This follows Newsquest selling our previous home, Berrow’s House in Hylton Road, to the University of Worcester, which is making the site part of its Severn Campus.

Staff will move to Redhill House once safe, in line with coronavirus social distancing guidelines.

The Worcester News had been at Berrow’s House since 1965.

Julia Lancett, managing director of Newsquest Midlands South, said: “It’s an emotional farewell for staff present and past, readers and across the community as we say goodbye to our landmark (if not slightly decrepit!) building in Hylton Road that we have so fondly occupied over the past 50 years.

“We’ve seen so many changes over the years, largely linked to technological advances and finally the closure of the local press four years ago.

“The move is simple, we no longer need the 89,000 square feet we were rattling around in and we want to provide a more modern, comfortable and business conducive environment for the team. We also decided it was time for a new owner to really utilise the space and location and are delighted that the University of Worcester will do this.

“Unfortunately the departing and new office celebrations have been postponed, as they have for numerous people personally and across the community during what for many has been a terribly difficult and sad time; however we continue to be buoyed by the incredible efforts of key workers across the NHS, care services, council and support services, MPs, educators, supermarkets and shops, delivery services, charities, volunteers and businesses’ including our own journalists, newspaper delivery agents, printers and publishing teams within each of our local markets.

“We have learned that pulling together and supporting one another in a time of crisis brings out in most cases the very best in humankind. We in the media industry have had the fortune to continue to do what is in our psyche, sitting at the heart of our local community, sharing incredible stories, supporting campaigns and keeping those isolated connected to the outside world.

“As we look forward, we still remain very much intrinsically within Worcester city and the county, at our refurbished but currently empty offices in Redhill House. We look forward to reaching a point when we are able to welcome our staff back into the new offices that they will be seeing in person for the first time. It will, we hope, embody a vision of a new chapter and the future of news publishing which has grown into an incredible digital business, alongside our endearing print solution for readers and businesses alike.”

Financial controller Trudy Munday added: “In January 1985, just 16 years old, I entered Berrow’s House for the first time, with its circa 250 employees, the press trundling away out the back day and night, and almost the whole first floor filled with typesetting machines clicking and compositors busy with their scalpels and paste up boards.

“A building always filled with noise and chatter, where the training room now stands was once a busy canteen with a welcome piece of hot buttered toast in the morning. I did not know back then that this building and those people and many that came after would become my extended home and family for 35 years.

“I have many memories of the people that walked the upstairs corridor, the Print Director with his steel tips to give advance warning to those lurking around the corner and the Editorial Director with his classic bow ties, offices filled with directors for every occasion, a far cry from the business we know today.

“The building itself has evolved over the years, the now IT department was once a large accounts office, kicked out into town for a few years whilst we invested in the expansion of our print business installing a new Ferag inserter, this putting an end to many fun evenings spent in despatch hand inserting the property section to earn a bit of extra cash.

“The memories of the building go hand in hand with the memories of the people. For those who were there, how did we all fit in the Crown & Anchor on Christmas Eve each year?!”

“So no more of the lovely Lorna to greet people on reception, we shall no longer need to direct people to turn left just after the concrete bunker, oh no, we have gone up in the world, first left immediately after Waitrose.... who’d have thought it!

Audience and Content Editor Alicia Kelly added: “When I first started working at Berrow’s House in 2006, you could still hear the thrilling sound of the press churning in the basement of the building. On my way to the editorial department, I would often stop to watch pages hurtle past me, rolling around the huge machinery.

“Over the years the sound died away as huge technology changes streamlined printing until each newspaper no longer needed its own press. But as one thing dies, another comes to the forefront and so the web became the central engine through which the news room shared its words and images.

“In a little over a decade the life of the newsroom has changed beyond recognition. We are still a daily paper – but we also share hourly updates via our website and social media channels. The large team has shrunk dramatically in recent years as a reaction to the changing demands of the newspaper industry and difficult economic circumstances. Today’s reporters are writers, photographers, camera operators and social media pros all wrapped up in one package.

“But the one constant is that we remain at the heart of our community – and I hope that will never change.”