WE'RE BACK WITH JW LEES, AND BRINGING BODDINGTONS WITH US!

Manchester's oldest brewery has appointed Down at the Social to lead PR for both JW Lees and Boddingtons Cask.

Some brands you work with once. Some you keep coming back to. JW Lees is firmly in the second camp, and we couldn't be happier to say we're working with Manchester's oldest brewery again.

JW Lees has been family-run since 1828, when John Lees first started brewing in Middleton. Seven generations later, the brewery runs a portfolio of 138 pubs and pub partners stretching from Manchester to Wales. That's a lot of history to do justice to, and it's exactly the kind of brand we love getting our teeth into: deeply rooted, genuinely local, and with a story worth telling properly.

This isn't our first time round with the team. Back in 2025, we helped relaunch Boddingtons Cask, bringing the ale back to Manchester after more than 13 years away from the city. 

The results spoke for themselves: a PR reach of over 120 million, 32 pieces of national and regional coverage and most importantly sold out casks week in and week out. More than numbers on a report, though, it was a homecoming, and the whole country came along for the ride.

This time, we're taking on PR for both JW Lees and Boddingtons Cask: press office, reactive commentary, and activations. We've not hung about, either. In the past few weeks we've already delivered the St. Patrick's Day campaign for JW Lees Stout and the Boddingtons x The Black Friar partnership.

“We couldn't be happier to be working alongside Down at the Social again. Our long-standing relationship with the team means they truly understand our brand and we trust them to tell our story.”

William Lees-Jones, Managing Director, JW Lees

For us, this one's personal. We've always loved working with brands woven into the fabric of Manchester, and JW Lees is about as Manchester as it gets. We know the team, we know the brand, and we know what good looks like for them. Now we get to spend the year proving it all over again.