[7] Beer sales continued to rise and in 1974 they were marked by a "significant increase" on the previous year and the percentages were higher than the national average.
Boddington himself had said that he thought people visiting his pubs wanted ales, rather than lager, and the company would continue to develop its traditional beers.
[10] It also planned to increase ale prices by 1p, while a development programme which included the creation of a new laboratory on its Strangeways site, was due to be completed in 1978.
[11] In 1982, Boddingtons took over Oldham Brewery at a cost of £23 million, but still made a pre-tax profit and bucked the national trend of decreasing beer sales.
The company had grown despite stagnant beer sales owing to high unemployment; instead growth in the retail, catering and managed homes operations added to the profit margin.
Boddington said it offers "the chance to develop sales of own-produced lager and to position itself for the future in this growing and higher margin sector of the beer market".
[23] He was commissioned as a Justice of the Peace for Chester in 1959,[24] served as High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1978–79, and was a Deputy Lieutenant for the county from 1993 till his death.