THOUGH the successful Manchester independent brewer Joseph Holt has being producing beer for almost 160 years, the company only acquired its first pub in Bolton in Belmont in 1952.

Then the company bought two more in Westhoughton and now, in the last two years, a flurry of acquisitions has seen their tally increase to a total of nine — and they are looking for more.

According to the company’s goodwill leather-bound book with hand-written ink entries, Holt's bought the Black Dog in Belmont July 17, 1952 when Stanley Jackson was made manager.

The company later acquired the Rosehill Tavern in Westhoughton from Tetleys on October 5, 1983 and Mark Allcock was installed as manager.

On December 10, 1952 Holt’s bought its second Westhoughton pub The White Lion. The tenant, a Mr G. P. Croslan, paid rent of just £150.

The company may be paternalistic in some ways — for example all managers are called in every Monday morning to meet and discuss business with senior management.

But it seems to work in that being a part of a large family engenders great loyalty among pub managers, tenants and brewery workers — mirrored by their loyal customers.

In fact the company claims that one brewery worker, Peter Pritchard, holds the world record of the longest serving employee, with 72 years service, having started work at the age of 13.

Holt's may be old fashioned in the sense that it doesn’t spend millions on marketing or TV ads, preferring instead to use that money to research new tastes and keep prices low.

In fact the brewery has a small brewery within the main brewery where the head brewer can experiment with different beers and tastes while still producing the full range of Holt's beers.

But the company has, like many other brewers, responded to changing times and spent around £5 million on introducing food to many of its 130 pubs. As the fourth generation of the Holt's family and current chief executive Richard Kershaw told me recently: “We took a decision as a company that we wanted to promote food as a business but we were also responding to our managers and tenants who were telling us that customers wanted food.”

The brewery also produces a range of bottled beers which have won international awards against strong global competition.

Its origins stretch back to 1849 when the brewery was originally founded, and ever since then subsequent generations have not just brewed beer but involved themselves in every aspect of Mancunian life. Tom Dempsey, Holt's operations manager, who went to school in Bolton, told me: ”Many people don’t realise that the Christie Hospital was originally known as the Holt’s Radium Institute and that the brewery supplied the first radium for use there.

“There were two Sir Edwards Holts and one was the Lord Mayor of Manchester during temperance times which must have been interesting.”

In recent times the links with Christie Hospital have been maintained when Holt's pubs raised £301,000 in 1999 for the renowned cancer hospital.

And even more recently Richard Kershaw completed a sponsored coastal bike ride to raise £20,000 for Christie’s.