Cavendish Press news editor Jon Harris (pictured) has bought the Manchester-based agency 13 years after joining the company as a reporter.
Harris, 41, was involved in a management buyout of the firm following the sudden death of the agency's founder, Brian Whittle, aged 59, in December last year.
Harris said: "Nobody can fill Brian's shoes, but the experience and skills I have learned while working for him at Cavendish have been invaluable.
"My heart has always been with Cavendish and I am determined to make sure the company will continue to be the great success that it has always been."
The agency was founded by Whittle from his former home — Cavendish House in Worsley in 1979 — and now has a team of 11 staff. Whittle's youngest son, Peter, 25, remains a staff photographer at the agency.
Harris started his career at the Halifax Evening Courier in 1990 before joining the Press Agency in York that same year under the late John Pick.
He joined Cavendish Press in July 1993, and became chief reporter in 1996 and then news editor in 1999.
Harris was appointed a director of the company when it went limited in 2000.
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