RADIO Northwich’s relocation to Barons Quay has moved a step closer when all the presenters had a first visit to the station’s new studios.

The internet radio station, which broadcasts 24 hours a day, has occupied the second floor space above Omnia in Witton Street since its launch in May 2018.

Broadcasts will begin streaming from their new home, which has two studios, a reception area, and a small retail section, shortly.

The autumn programme schedule, to be published later this week, will include live shows covering music from across the genres and the decades, presented by its team of more than 30 locally-based presenters.

'Northwich Now' – a current affairs show – and a new Saturday Sports Show aimed at promoting all the local sports clubs in the area are two new programmes being broadcast.

The move to Barons Quay was announced earlier this year after agreement was reached with Cheshire West and Cheshire Council to lease the unit adjacent to Asda and Sports Direct.

“This has been a challenging project due, in the main, to the interruption to the schedule of works caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but we are now ready to press ahead with the next stage of the station’s development”, said John Thompson, partner responsible for sales and marketing.

“Our aim is to become the beating heart of mid Cheshire, providing listeners with an excellent choice of music, local information and interviews."

The station’s compliance partner, Alan Large said: “Initially, the new studio won’t be open to members of the public, until the building is Covid-19 compliant.

“However the public will be able to interact with the station’s presenters using a QR code affixed to the studio window, which will allow listeners to easily scan music requests and dedications to the presenters.”

Kim Smith, partner responsible for social media and planning, added: “Our main priority at the moment is to successfully complete the transition from the high street without disrupting programming and then we will quickly work towards welcoming studio guests and the public to the new facility.”

Since lockdown was introduced, access to the existing studio was restricted so that presenters did not come into direct contact with each other and most daily shows have been broadcast remotely from various locations across Cheshire.

Radio Northwich broadcasts 24 hours a day on radionorthwich.co.uk or on the Amazon Alexa smartspeaker, smartphone, smart TV and also on the Radio Garden app.