Beer sommelier Annabel Smith teams up with Enterprise

Smith will feature each month in the pubco’s magazine deals&ideas​, and respond to beer-related questions from licensees.

Smith said: “The company has around 5,000 pubs across its estate and to be able to reach them and help inspire them to think differently about the opportunities that beer can present is such a wonderful opportunity.”

The sommelier is also working with There’s a Beer for That​, a beer and food matching company which works in partnership with Enterprise

'Falling in love with beer'

“This is one of the most exciting, diverse and sociable industries to be in," she continued.

"So many people are falling in love with beer all over again, or discovering it for the first time, so we want to make sure Enterprise publicans know more, or at least as much as the customers they’re serving.”

Smith was a licensee in Yorkshire for over a decade before joining Diageo as a trainer. After five years she joined Cask Marque as its first female beer inspector, and in 2012 she qualified as a beer sommelier.

She continues to work as a training consultant for Cask Marque as well as running her company, BeerBelle, which specialises in hosting beer events and training people about beer styles.

The sommelier has invited Enterprise publicans to e-mail her with any questions relating to beer, and she’ll pick the most interesting to answer in the magazine each month.

'Great value'

Enterprise sales and marketing director James Armitage said: “We’re very proud of this new partnership which we are sure will be of great value to our publicans.

“We’re always looking at ways to provide our publicans and their staff with useful information to help them build their businesses, and as quality beer is such an important element of running a pub, we wanted to offer something in addition to our popular beer training courses.”

Enterprise offers more than 1,300 products include a rotating selection of seasonal ales from its On the Dray scheme.

“Today’s consumers are really knowledgeable about beer, so Annabel will help ensure our publicans are fully informed and one step ahead. She’s a very welcome addition to our team,” Armitage added.