MORE than 107 years of history ended last Friday, with the demolition of G&J Seddon's longstanding headquarters building in the heart of Little Hulton.

Seddon had occupied the same premises since 1897, but with the completion of a prestigious new £2m headquarters building on Plodder Lane in Bolton, the company has vacated the Armitage Avenue site to make way for a major new retail scheme.

Two retailers have already signed up to the scheme; Netto has taken a 10,000 sq ft unit and will be joined by Farm Foods who have taken 4,600 sq ft. A further 6,000 sq ft of accommodation remains available to let, which can be taken by one or more retailers. On completion, the scheme will provide Little Hulton with an alternative shopping area and will attract a significant number of new jobs to the town.

Some demolition at the site has taken place, and construction for the new retail units is already underway, leaving the original houses where George and John Seddon started their construction business and the main office to demolish. Christopher Seddon, Jonathan Seddon and James Seddon (Christopher being the grandson and Jonathan and James the great-grandsons of the company founders) were on-site on Friday to mark the occasion by making the first strike in the demolition process.

Jonathan Seddon said: "Our company was founded in Salford and we have a strong relationship with the city -- through our workforce and our relationship as a preferred contractor to Salford City Council. Nothing much will change as we will operate exactly as before - but we had literally outgrown our premises which made it necessary to move.

"There is a great deal of history tied up in our Little Hulton premises, which made the decision to move very hard, but we are very excited by our new headquarters in Bolton."

MORE than 107 years of history ended last Friday, with the demolition of G&J Seddon's longstanding headquarters building in the heart of Little Hulton.

Seddon had occupied the same premises since 1897, but with the completion of a prestigious new £2m headquarters building on Plodder Lane in Bolton, the company has vacated the Armitage Avenue site to make way for a major new retail scheme.

Two retailers have already signed up to the scheme; Netto has taken a 10,000 sq ft unit and will be joined by Farm Foods who have taken 4,600 sq ft. A further 6,000 sq ft of accommodation remains available to let. On completion, the scheme will provide Little Hulton with an alternative shopping area and will attract a significant number of new jobs to the town.

Jonathan Seddon said: "There is a great deal of history tied up in our Little Hulton premises, which made the decision to move very hard, but we are very excited by our new headquarters in Bolton."

LEAVING LITTLE HULTON: From left, Chris Seddon, grandson of the firm's founder, his children, Jamie Seddon, Jon Seddon and Nicola Hodkinson