Boddingtons brewery jobs have been saved - following a campaign by the Manchester Evening News and Manchesteronline.

The Cream of Manchester is staying in the city after Interbrew, the owners of Boddingtons, announced that no production of the famous Manchester beer would be transferred to plants in Preston and South Wales, as had been planned.

Saved

The Belgian-based company had planned to cut the Manchester workforce from 107 to less than 40 as part of a review of its European operation.

The reversal of its decision means Boddies will remain a beer brewed in Manchester, as it has been since 1778.

The Manchester Evening News has been pushing hard to keep the beer in the city and received strong support for its Keep the Cream in Manchester campaign.

Thousands of people signed petitions, which the MEN took to Interbrew's headquarters in Leuven, Belgium.

Blackley MP Graham Stringer also put an early day motion down in the House of Commons backing the paper's campaign.

And the newspaper's website Manchesteronline was bombarded with messages of support from drinkers around the world who were angry at the plans.

The brewery had hoped to save between £7.5m and £10.5m over the next three years by transferring most production out of Manchester.

There will now be no compulsory redundancies, although some staff may have to transfer to other plants.

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