THE Times they are a changing. Yes, the Bury Times Group has found a fresh home for the new millennium.

We transferred this week from our previous office in the town's Market Street to a new, purpose-built headquarters.

But you won't need a map to find us. Our three-storey building is just a few yards down the road on a site adjoining the offices we have occupied since 1971.

Our newly-completed office is the fourth the Bury Times has occupied since we started serving the local community in 1855.

The move was necessary because our previous building wasn't sufficiently flexible for the production of a modern, five-titles-a-week newspaper group.

But the new headquarters will maintain the vital role in the community which the Bury Times has played over many generations.

It includes a ground floor reception, which will welcome callers as from next Monday (Feb 26).

The remainder of the building, equipped with the latest technology, embraces ample, airy accommodation for our editorial, advertising and special publications-events staff. Meanwhile, scaffolding has been erected at our old office in Market Street in preparation for its demolition soon.

Formerly a Co-op Bakery, the distinctive building became the headquarters of the Bury Times in 1971. But our roots go much further back than that. The company was originally based in the Union Square offices of its founder Mr John Heap and the first edition of the Bury Times was published on July 7, 1885.

The paper sold 1,500 copies at 1d and at one time claimed a circulation exceeding that of all daily and weekly newspapers put together in the town.

In 1901, the Bury Times transferred to a new base in Cross Street. We stayed there until 30 years ago when we moved to Market Street.

Throughout the years, the Bury Times changed from broadsheet to tabloid and constantly harnessed and introduced new technological innovations which changed the face of newspaper production and printing.