Robert's third and fourth sons Philip (1893–1952) and Charles (1897–1982) served as joint chairman following the death of their father in 1930, and Charles took sole responsibility after Philip died. [17] [18] Former student Louise Patton remembers the ’15-hours of drinking’ nights being ‘the most memorable’ where student boozers wore themed T-shirts – pretty impressive memory skills after all that alcohol! Quite how Boddingtons got onto a Friends episode – I don’t know – but it made me think about the Manchester beer and brewery and therefore I’ve spent the last couple of hours looking into the Rise & Fall of what affectionately became known as ‘The Cream of Manchester’. Reflecting on her journey, Sykes recalled an influential moment involving Gregg, where he expressed his belief that her participation in the BBC reality show would greatly benefit her career, stating that it “would do a lot for you.” From July 1991 until 1999, a series of Boddingtons advertisements created by the Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) agency used "The Cream of Manchester" tagline. [86] The campaign, credited with revitalising the image of Manchester, was arguably third behind Manchester United and Coronation Street in raising the city's profile. [2] Originally a set of print advertisements, the campaign was extended to television in 1992. [87] The television advertisements featured beautiful women with unlikely Mancunian accents and "achieved the seemingly impossible task of making bitter glamorous". [88] [89] The most famous television advertisement featured a glamorous couple on-board gondolas on Manchester's River Irwell, in a parody of a well-known "just one Cornetto" ice cream advertisement. According to the Manchester Evening News, "it told the world something about the reinvention of the murky old city, that its once-filthy waterway could almost pass for Venice." [90]

In 2010, Boddingtons was the sixth-highest selling bitter in the United Kingdom, although sales had dropped by almost three-quarters since the takeover by Anheuser–Busch InBev in 2000. [35] In 2011, AB InBev's UK president Stuart MacFarlane claimed "We still believe in the brand", whilst admitting to not advertising the brand for five years, instead reaping the rewards of memories of earlier advertising. [36] Contract brewing of Boddingtons Cask continued until 2012 when production of the beer ended. [37] There has been renewed interest in the Boddington’s cask-conditioned bitter that was produced in the 1960s to the 1980s. It was widely regarded as one of the finest examples of its genre in Britain. In 2012 it ceased to exist completely in cask form although there appear to be two versions still available in keg/can form. Much of the discussion that has occurred centres around when the decline in quality occurred, with a variety of dates being mentioned, spanning the 1970s/80s. The aim of this research is to try and make an objective judgement about the decline and pinpoint when it commenced via Boddington’s tied house postings in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide (GBG). The brewery faced adversity during the Second World War when it was heavily damaged in a massive air raid on December 22, 1940. a b "Peter Kay most popular when it comes to 'bloke beer adverts' ". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. 2 September 2009 . Retrieved 7 May 2011. By 1877, Boddingtons had become the largest brewery in Manchester, brewing over 100,000 barrels annually and owning 71 public houses. Why Boddingtons Bitter was called ‘The Cream of Manchester’a b c "HISTORY OF FIRMS USING PERFINS: BODDINGTONS of MANCHESTER" (PDF). Angelfire.com . Retrieved 22 January 2022. Cream rises to the top in a category that plays more serious than usual". Advertising Age. 3 May 1993. p.14. Boddingtons flagship beer, Boddingtons Bitter, achieved nationwide recognition and became the epitome of the brand.

Annual Report (PDF). Whitbread. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016 . Retrieved 4 September 2013. It was during the Whitbread era that Boddingtons became an international brand and a household name. It does reflect… the dryness and colour of the original Boddington’s Bitter, but not the strength — it is much stronger.

Morrisons is doing half price fish and chips at all of its cafes today

Its major local competitors were Groves and Whitnall, Threlfalls, and the Manchester Brewing Company. [7] The company owned 212 public houses by 1892, making it the twelfth largest tied estate in the United Kingdom. [12] The tied estate was mostly freehold. [13] Anna Chancellor, who played the beer thief, went on to star in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and later married the B camera operator from the ad. a b c d Richmond, Lesley; Turton, Alison, eds. (1990). The Brewing industry: a guide to historical records. Studies in British business archives. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp.75–6. ISBN 978-0-7190-3032-1 . Retrieved 14 May 2013. In May 2000 the Whitbread Beer Company was acquired by the Belgian brewer Interbrew, which owned Stella Artois. At that time over ten percent of Boddingtons production was exported to some 40 countries worldwide, including China, the United States, Taiwan and the West Indies. [58] The Strangeways Brewery kegging facility closed in February 2003 with the loss of 50 jobs. [59] In August 2003, amidst falling sales, Interbrew relaunched the cask product in the North West of England, with an increased strength. [60] The relaunch was unsuccessful and the changes were reversed. I’ve just been watching an episode of Friends – The One With All The Kissing– and in between Chandler secretly getting off with Monica and Ross moaning about saying Rachel’s name at his wedding, Joey randomly mentions his love of Boddingtons.

Boddingtons has a distinctive straw-golden coloured body with a creamy white head, which in its modern form is achieved by the addition of nitrogen in an attempt to replicate the traditional head from serving the cask beer through a sparkler. Boddingtons is a bitter, and England has many bitters to choose from. The most obvious comparisons would be John Smith’s and Tetleys, which are both from Yorkshire. The three beers are virtually identical, focussing on a very creamy head, low alcohol, and a neutral taste.It was very fortuitous that the brewery was in Manchester. To outsiders, Manchester is a very attractive place– known the world over for soccer, art, music and broadcasting. It would be difficult to have a Cream of Wolverhampton even though Banks's beer is very good. People do not aspire to visit Wolverhampton. On the whole they try to by-pass it.