Bar staff and publicans enjoyed the view from the other side of the counter when Oakham Ales hosted its annual Oakademy Members Day at Peterborough’s Brewery Tap.
Each summer, the brewery, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, organises the event for its flagship outlets across the country, giving invitees a chance to catch up with fellow professionals, and providing the brewery with an opportunity to get to know its clients better, and to say thank you for their continued support.
This year there were almost 300 guests.
Managing director Adrian Posnett said: “Customer service and the personal touch are central to how we run our business at Oakham. We put great emphasis on making sure our customers feel like they have a personal relationship with our staff, not just as product suppliers, so this is a very important opportunity for everyone to get together face-to-face, to relax and have a good time.
“We value the relationship we have with our stockists, so this is a way to let them know that, and to say thank you.”
Oakham’s managing director, Adrian Posnett, welcoes Jon Blyth, landlord of the King Billy, Nottingham, the first Oakham Oakademy pub
There are currently at total of 375 Oakademy Members across the UK, stretching from Devon to the east coast of Scotland. Among those who attended was Jon Blyth, the landlord of a Nottingham pub which was the first to join up.
Jon runs the King Billy, in Eyre Street, and comes from a long line of publicans. His father, Jeff, signed up for the Oakademy when it launched almost ten years ago.
Jon said: “Our customers love Oakham — we started in 1997 and it has become a staple of our bar. The beer is always reliable and we have always stocked Bishops Farewell, and now Citra. Oakham Ales is a popular choice and we only stock what our customers enjoy.”
Championing individual breweries
Jon’s dad Jeff, who died in December aged 72, always championed beers from individual breweries and suppliers, and was himself from a dynasty of landlords, as his grandmother ran the Magna Carta, in Wilford Road, the Cremorne (both now gone), and The Fox, at Sneiton, which was taken over by her son, Reg, and which is now a law office.
The King Billy also stocks a range of seasonal and cask aged beers by Oakham and Jon said the current batch of Blue Skies is proving particularly popular.
Oakham’s permanent ales, including former champion beer of Britain, JHB, Inferno, Citra, Scarlet Macaw and Bishops Farewell, are consistent award winners at both local and national level. Its bottled ales are available in Wetherspoon pubs and Waitrose supermarkets, and Oakham’s ales are also sold across Europe, North America and Asia.
