TAKE a look inside the top secret GCHQ spy base where codebreakers take on Putin from a drab office block.
Keeping tabs on the latest threats to the UK is now being done from a building above a Manchester Greggs.
A new GCHQ base has opened up in Manchester[/caption]
The spy base in Manchester sits above an unassuming Greggs bakery[/caption]
Two floors are classified top secret but some schoolkids got a tour[/caption]
Two floors are classified top secret where hundreds of spies work on missions including cyber attacks from China and Russia.
Speaking publicly last month the head of GCHQ Sir Jeremy Fleming said the current priorities are surrounding any risks posed by Chinese technology.
Entrance into the secret work space requires security checks with the first floor not giving much away.
Based in Albert Square – which is in the centre of the Northern city – the base has zero signs outside in a bid to keep it private.
Read More on The Sun
Tasked with analysing digital surveillance of terrorists and organised crime, GCHQ’s deputy director said the move to Manchester has given the organisation a “license to experiment”.
Liz, who declines to give her surname for security reason, told the MEN: “Manchester seemed like a really good bet because you’ve got really strong universities, lots of tech start-ups and some of the really big tech firms.
“In Manchester we have been given a bit of licence to experiment.
Most read in The Sun
“We are able to work here with industry in a way that you just can’t elsewhere.”
The security organisation already has branches in Scarborough, Cornwall and London, as well as its HQ in Cheltenham.
Entrance into the secret work space requires security checks with the first floor not giving much away[/caption]