YOUR award-winning Gazette had a special visit from the borough’s first citizen as mayor Councillor Brian Gurden came to our offices as part of his ongoing tour of local businesses.

Cllr Gurden – who is championing the cause of borough businesses in his mayoral year – is keen to visit as many companies as possible before his term of office ends next May.

At The Gazette, which started publication in 1878, he was taken on a tour of the Pelton Road offices by editor Mark Jones, and met and chatted with various members of staff, including publisher Gary Kendall.

Cllr Gurden said: “I’ve got a deep regard for The Gazette. I’ve been here in Basingstoke a long time and The Gazette has always been one of the bedrocks of the social and political scene. I think The Gazette helps to keep the community together.”

During his tour, Cllr Gurden had the chance to look through some of The Gazette archives, including the edition that was published on the day he was born in January 1939.

Fascinated, Cllr Gurden said: “Looking back then you could have bought a house in Cumberland Avenue for £545, or £30 down and something like 12 shillings and six a week, which is about 62.5p a week in modern terms – can you imagine that?”

When Cllr Gurden became mayor last May, he made a pledge to support local businesses, fly the flag for the business community and celebrate what is being achieved in the borough.

Having visited more than 40 local businesses, large and small, Cllr Gurden said he will be stepping up a gear in the new year to get round to even more.

He said: “I’m going to have to do some cold-calling. I’ll have the mayoral chain on and just knock on doors and say ‘Hello, I’m the mayor – how are you getting on?’.”

He is keen to visit all kinds of businesses and said: “The sum total of all our businesses is very important for the prosperity of our town.”