Black Sheep website best baa none

April 25, 2007: Black Sheep was the dark horse of a business awards ceremony, beating top corporate and consumer internet sites to take the prize for best company website of 2007.

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	l Helen Allison, marketing manager at Black Sheep Brewery, shows off the best company website trophy while Antony Prince (back left), of Extreme Creations, and Black Sheep’s managing director, Paul Theakston, toast their award win.

The Masham-based company, which currently supplies some 700 outlets throughout the North of England, as well as UK wholesalers and pub chains, walked away with the prestigious trophy at the NatWest-sponsored Ackrill Media Group Business Awards.

"We're more used to praise for our pints than plaudits for our pixels,” said managing director Paul Theakston. “But we are delighted with the award because it recognises our commitment to customer service from publican, to retailer, to Black Sheep drinker. Our website gives you everything you need to know about how we brew the perfect pint and where to find it.”

Extreme Creations designed the website — www.blacksheepbrewery.co.uk which features a 360-degree virtual tour of the famous brewery, visitor centre and bistro, and creates an interactive community for customers and fans of the brews.

"We wanted to reflect the maverick quality of Black Sheep, which is a hugely popular brand with a strong following of real ale fans who share its distinct sense of humour and love of great beer,” said Antony Prince, managing director of Extreme Creations. “We also wanted to ensure that every visitor to the site had a clear and easily-accessible route to all the relevant information they need.”

Black Sheep is no stranger to awards success. This year the brewery was named the Good Pub Guide’s brewery of the year for the second year running, and was 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, enabling pubs to serve the perfect pint.