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 The Observer was launched on May 6, 1883, from Charles Luff's small printing works in Buckingham Gardens and even then on day one, the original owner had plans to extend - for on his masthead, in addition to Slough, he incorporared the place names, Eton, Windsor, Maidenhead, Colnbrook and Uxbridge. The Observer, Slough's first newspaper dedicated to the town, began life bringing news, events and features to Slough's 7700 population with a weekly print run of 2000 copies costing a penny each. Charles Luff's son Edward, who inherited the business on his father's death, brought Frank Lawrance in as a partner in 1933 and by 1947, Mr Lawrance had taken sole control of the company. Following his death in 1969, his widow, Kathleen, became chairman and his son Peter, was appointed joint Managing Director.  The company remained in the Lawrance family until March 1997, when it was sold to the Scottish based newspaper group Clyde & Forth Press Ltd., also a family owned and run business which has Mrs Deirdre Romanes as its Chief Executive. Over the years, the Observer has had several "homes", always at the heart of the community, and in 1989, following a complete refurbishment, the administration and advertising departments moved to prestigious new offices at Upton Court, while production and editorial remained at Banbury Avenue in the town's Slough Trading Estate. The Observer has witnessed many changes in its 116 year history and with support from Clyde & Forth. After St Laurence's Church, beside which it stands, Upton Court is the oldest building in Slough and the present great hall, built in 1325, was granted by Charles 1 to Charles Harbord, Surveyor-General in 1630. In 1922 it was visited by King George V and Queen Mary with a view to it becoming a home for the Princess Royal and her husband, the Earl of Harewood, but it did not pass Queen Mary's test and was sold. Upton Court changed hands again in 1952 when it was bought by Francis Groves, a local printer, who lived in the building until 1986 when it was was bought by Mr Peter Lawrance, the then owner of the Berks & Bucks Observer Group, and painstakingly restored to its original mediaeval form. In March 1997, one of the first priorities of the new owners, Clyde & Forth Press Ltd., was to arrange the transfer of production and editorial, still based on the trading estate, to new offices adjacent to Upton Court, and by October of that year, all Observer staff were installed on the same site. |
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