A GLITZY black tie dinner was staged in Bury to celebrate a new chapter in the Fusilier Museum’s history.

Last month, the top floor of the historic Grade II -listed building in Moss Street was officially opened after a £1.4 million redevelopment.

The Heritage Lottery-funded project saw a new exhibitions space, the Quartermaster’s Store, created to display more of the museum’s growing collection.

A new state-of-the-art conference and events space, the Minden Suite, was also created and this was the backdrop for a dinner attended by 140 high profile guests.

The event heralded the launch of the Fusilier Museum’s new corporate membership scheme encouraging businesses to support the cause.

Clough & Willis Solicitors, based in Manchester Road, is the first business to join the scheme.

Managing partner Shefali Talukdar said: “We are extremely honoured to be the first ever corporate partner for The Fusilier Museum and we look forward to working with them in the future.”

Claire Warner, the museum’s fundraising manager, said: “We are delighted to have our first corporate partner on board and will be contacting Bury’s other businesses and organisations during the next few months to encourage them to sign up to support our work.

“This new scheme is invaluable to the museum and will undoubtedly make a huge difference to our plans in the future.”

Museum bosses say corporate fundraising will help maintain and refresh existing exhibitions and aid the development of new ones – such as next year’s Gallipoli 100 offering.