After almost 40 years, the Odhams building publishes copies of the Daily Mirror for the last time today.
Reach Plc announced it would shut down operations at the building near The Dome roundabout this summer, in February, and the final day has now come (Sunday, July 19.
CEO Piers North described it as a “big moment” for the team, Reach, and Watford, highlighting the historic links between the town and the printing business.
He added: “While it is the right thing for us to do as a business, that doesn't change the sense of gravitas around the day as the team sends the Mirror out their door for the last time after nearly 40 years."
The BBC reports that a small team is understood to be remaining at the Watford site to oversee its safe closure over the next few months, but workers have shared goodbye messages and confirmed they had their final day working there this weekend.
Watford Borough Council has said it will protect the building, with its “striking design and well-known clocktower”, to the full extent of its powers as a local authority.
Meanwhile, heritage campaigners and Watford MP Matt Turmaine have also called for any changes to the building to be sympathetic to a structure “of genuine historical and architectural interest”.
The MP has applied for Historic England to grant national recognition to help protect it.
Odhams Press Limited started building on land now occupied by Asda in 1935, expanding to cover more than 17 acres and employ almost 2,500 people by the mid-1950s.
It continued to expand and modernise in the 1960s before being bought by Mirror Group owner Robert Maxwell in 1983.
When the closure was announced, Watford councillor Glenn Saffery, who is responsible for planning, said: “We are sad and concerned to hear about Reach’s decision to cease operations at the site.
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“Our thoughts are with the staff, many of whom live in Watford, at what we know will be a very worrying and difficult time.”
Work previously done at the Watford site is moving to the Newsprinters site in Broxbourne, via a commercial outsourcing agreement.
Reach had described the closure as a “proactive and strategic move” to position the business for long-term success and accelerate digital growth opportunities.
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