The Birmingham Mail, the city’s daily newspaper, is moving into new headquarters in Brindleyplace on Westside.
An advance party of a dozen or so staff are already working from the Three Brindleyplace offices, and once all the necessary technology is in place this will become the city centre base for around 80 workers.
These will include Mail staff but also those producing the Sunday Mercury, the weekly business paper the Birmingham Post, plus hot-desks and meeting rooms for staff from Reach plc, the newspapers’ publisher.
Reach plc publishes the Daily Mirror, several other national newspapers, and scores of regional titles across the UK, including the Bristol Post, Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News, The Gazette in Middlesbrough, and the Newcastle Chronicle.
The Mail, which appears online as BirminghamLive, has relocated to Westside from its previous city centre offices on Church Street, off Colmore Row, having move there in 2017 after nine years at the Fort Dunlop complex, in Castle Bromwich. Before that, the Mail had been based at its own bespoke offices at Colmore Circus for more than 30 years.
The new Brindleyplace offices include a podcast studio, increased desk space, more meeting rooms, breakout spaces and the latest video and communications technology to help staff e-meet with colleagues across the UK.
Graeme Brown (pictured below), editor of the Mail and related titles and websites, said: “We are very excited about the move to Brindleyplace. The new office is an ideal location to not only report on Birmingham but also celebrate the best of our city.
“From out of our window, we can see much of what is great about our evolving city centre and we are right in the heart of Birmingham to report on the things that matter to our readers.”
Mr Brown explained that the Brindleyplace offices included defined areas for editorial, advertising and other departments, as well space for wider Reach plc staff holding meetings in the Midlands.
He added: “Once all the technology is up and running, there will be up to eighty or ninety staff at any given time in the offices, which our publisher Reach will also be using as a convenient Midlands meeting space for staff from its other titles, which stretch from London into many northern cities.”
In its heyday, the Mail sold well over a quarter of a million printed copies every day. It now sells around 6,500 copies, with most of its audience now following stories online via the BirminghamLive brand at www.birminghammail.co.uk.
Founded as the Birmingham Daily Mail in 1870, the paper became known simply as the Birmingham Mail in the early 20th century. In April 1963, it was renamed the Birmingham Evening Mail and Despatch after merging with the Birmingham Evening Despatch.
The title became the Birmingham Evening Mail from 1967 until October 2005, when it was relaunched to once again become known as the Birmingham Mail.
Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the mighty and historical Birmingham Mail and its associated titles onto Westside.
“We’re very proud of our own daily Westside World news operations and so are looking forward to working closely with the Mail to keep everyone across Birmingham fully aware of the businesses, events and opportunities here on Westside.”
Main picture: Helen Robert’s painting of Three Brindleyplace, the Mail’s new headquarters.
