Black Sheep staff get Cask Marque accredited

l Black Sheep Brewery staff receive their Cask Marque certificates from the organisation's national account manager, Annabel Smith (right). At the front with Annabel are Claire Boyle and Doug Mills who achieved 100% pass marks in their training course

October 8, 2007: The Black Sheep Brewery has become the first supplier in the UK to train its staff to Cask Marque accredited standard in cellar management.

The Masham brewery put its 12-strong sales and marketing team through the extensive training course to achieve the BII award in beer and cellar quality (ABCQ). Two members of the team — Claire Boyle and Doug Mills — achieved 100% pass marks.

"This is an innovative move from Black Sheep,” said Annabel Smith, national account manager for Cask Marque. “They have really set a seal on their commitment to Cask Marque quality standards by training their in-house team. We hope other like-minded breweries will follow suit.”

Black Sheep Brewery managing director, Paul Theakston, who also sits on the Cask Marque board, said: “One of the most important elements of our sales team’s role is to help our customers to serve the perfect pint. We wanted to put our knowledge and experience to the quality test and we’re delighted with the results.”

Cask Marque, which is the largest provider of cellar management training in the UK, has seen almost 3,700 publicans and their staff through the cellar management examination and aims to have a trained cellar champion in every pub in the country. The training covers beer production, cellar management, best practice in cask and keg handling and serving and pouring the perfect pint.

Black Sheep was also the first brewery in the North of England to receive the industry quality hallmark the Cask Marque Distribution Charter Award, for achieving the highest standards for storing, transporting and delivering cask beer.

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