Big brewers are teaming up with the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) to produce the first-ever industry-wide national standards for cellar management in pubs.
Part of the campaign to prevent declining on-trade beer sales it will see members of the British Beer & Pub Association's dispense panel, chaired by former Coors technical director Paul Arnold, thrash out the details of a new BII qualification in keeping and serving good beer.
It will replace the body's existing Advanced Qualification (AQ) in cellar management taking a more practical and less technical approach geared to improving profitability of beer sales across the on-trade.
"There isn't a great deal wrong with the BII qualification as it stands, but it has become a bit outdated and is too technical," said Mr Arnold. "It has to be consumer-friendly and more generic so it can be applied to all situations.
"We hope that pub groups will drive it in their own houses and that the freetrade will be picked up by the brewers.
"What we have to try to do is treat each retailer in the same way," he added. "There will be no razzmatazz about quality from us. It's about getting back to basics."
The new cellar management AQ will be available next year as part of a revised series of one-day AQ courses which will together form an Advanced National Certificate in Licensed Retailing.
And while we're on the subject....
....click hereto take a look at our focus on cellar management, which includes tips on how brewery courses are focusing on commercial benefits and the basics of keeping a cellar.