Location
the Fort receptionThe new-look Birmingham Post and Mail newsroom has taken shape with editors upbeat about their new home. Staff on the Post and Mail and Sunday Mercury have settled into their state-of-the-art office in Fort Dunlop, a former tyre factory five miles outside the city centre overlooking the M6.
Both Mail editor Steve Dyson and Post editor Marc Reeves are excited about the multimedia hub which has been over 13 months in the planning since the move was announced last autumn.
The titles have been produced from the city centre and in Printing House Street since the 1960s. Steve said: "The move was bloody hard graft all round. Friday saw us producing the Mail, Post and Mercury from Printing House Street and packing our 'bags' to move.
"On Saturday and Sunday the removal firm sprang into action and by 12 noon Sunday, when the journalists turned up for the Post shift and the Mail overnight pages, the whole editorial floor was ready for us to continue as if nothing had happened. Marc added: "It's a fantastic, fresh environment – windows all round, an open-plan, no-secrets environment with a central hub making all editorial decisions in the open. "Even the editors sit out on the floor along with all the desk heads to ensure that content goes to the correct website or print edition at the right time."It's now towards the end of day three and the papers have been produced, printed and are on sale. "There are plenty of improvements to come, reviews to hold and tweaks to make, but Fort Dunlop has begun."