HYDES Brewery has shrugged off the gloom surrounding the pub trade to make a £3m swoop and is looking for more sites to buy as part of an ambitious growth plan.

The historic Manchester brewer has just completed the purchase of Bamford Hall and the Bluebell Centre, in Gee Cross, near Hyde.

The family-owned business, which last year had a turnover of £25m, now owns a total of 75 pubs in the north west of which 60 serve food.

Managing director Chris Hopkins (pictured) said that Hydes is increasingly providing food in its pubs even though its beer sales remain strong.

"Last year we brewed in excess of 23m pints of beer - which represents a four-fold increase in the trade we were doing around 2000," he said.

"We've done this by offering a quality product, increasing the size of our sales team and maximising opportunities from getting our beers into freehouses.

"Other brewers are describing their wet sales as flat, but that's not the case for us.

"There has been a slight decline in trade following the smoking ban but the main reason why we're moving into the food market is because that's what our customers want.

Bluebell Centre

"Bamford Hall and the Bluebell Centre is the second pub we've purchased in the past two months - the other one was in Staffordshire - and we are in the process of looking at other sites."

Bamford Hall, which sits in 3 acres of land, was built in 1870 and has previously been in private ownership.

In 2001, it was purchased by the Stanyer family who converted some outbuildings to open a restaurant and coffee shop called the Blue Bell Centre in 2004.

Since purchasing the property earlier this year, Hydes has gained planning permission to convert the hall into a public house which is due to open in September.

"Bamford Hall will make a stunning pub and restaurant complex which will also offer great potential for events and functions in a really attractive setting," said Mr Hopkins.

"The Bluebell Centre will continue to open as a café and restaurant throughout the renovation with virtually all the staff retained."

Established in 1863, Hydes Brewery is one of the few British regional breweries that is still owned and managed as a family business.

The company employs 50 staff at its brewery in Old Trafford and further 400 in its pubs across the north west.