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July 20, 2018

Grantham Journal news team move back to street where weekly title first published in 1854

By Freddy Mayhew

The Grantham Journal has moved its office back onto the street where it was founded in 1854, and will be open to the public five days a week.

The regional weekly newspaper and news website, which has now moved to 18 Watergate in Grantham, had previously rented in a shared office block with no signage or public access.

Growing independent publisher Iliffe Media acquired the title from Johnston Press in January 2017, and bought the new town-centre office last August, after which it invested in extensive refurbishment.

The premises will accommodate four journalists and four commercial staff.

Iliffe Media chief executive Edward Iliffe said: “The opening of the new Grantham Journal office underlines our total commitment to the local communities we serve. Local newspapers will survive by being stronger, not weaker.

“Our heritage is as important as our future – in fact, it’s our foundation, one which we intend to build on.”

Iliffe Media Midlands managing director Richard Parkinson called the company’s strategy “straightforward” and said it prioritised neither digital nor print, but focused on “customer first”.

He said Iliffe’s strategy was about making its titles relevant and accessible to readers and advertisers in its print and online formats, as well as on social media and in person.

He added: “We have had such a positive reaction to this move from the local community.”

Iliffe’s investment in the Grantham office follows their opening of a new office for the King’s Lynn-based Lynn News in December 2017, and their acquisition of the Newark Advertiser in June this year.

The family-owned publisher already owns 17 regional publications including the Cambridge Independent, 13 of which it bought in 2017 from Johnston Press in a deal worth over £17m.

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