Tuesday, 23rd October 2007.
When Haverhill based,
Pure Energy Multimedia recently moved to new, larger premises in Haverhill town centre staff didn’t expect to discover they might be sharing the property with a spooky presence.
The Counting House, located in the historic Chauntry Mills complex and dating from 1821, contains the wealth of office space needed to support Pure Energy’s current expansion programme. But it also contains a maze of corridors, a vast stone staircase and umpteen dark corners.
“It wasn’t until we were actually in residence that we heard from previous occupants about the ghostly incumbent,” explains Jason Fitzpatrick, managing director of Pure Energy.
“Apparently there’s a long history of allegedly supernatural phenomena associated with this building. There have been intermittent reports over the years of strange footsteps, the sounds of whispers and furniture being moved in empty rooms, objects wandering from where they belong and several sightings of a ghostly figure lurking on the stairs.
“It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when I was told. I spent a lot of time here in the evenings on my own organising rooms prior to moving in. To be honest, I did experience a couple of eerie incidents I can’t really explain. Now our office manager Kelly insists on working in the room closest to the front door!”
“While it’s one thing to watch scary movies featuring haunted places it’s another thing to work in one!” adds design manager Steve Bryant. “But we won’t let it dampen our spirits. This building used to house Gurteen’s accountancy office in the nineteenth century. We reckon one of those Victorian accountants simply couldn’t let go! We call him Albert.”
Founded in 1997, Pure Energy’s early success and reputation were built on the company’s technical expertise in creating high functionality websites for business. Recognising the need to integrate communications processes, the company has repositioned itself in recent years bringing its graphic design capabilities in line with its web proficiency and now offers both online and offline marketing solutions.
“We have witnessed an unprecedented increase in commissions during the past year,” Mr Fitzpatrick explains. “We just seem to be very good at building the type of websites people want. And we work hard at reinforcing and promoting their brand through other marketing materials. We had outgrown our previous offices and moving to new premises will support our continuing growth during this exciting period.
“On a footnote, we won’t be calling in Ghost Busters just yet; we like to think there’s room in here for all of us, including the ghost!”