Cask Marque hires female trade quality expert as beer assessor

Trade expert Rachel Evans joins from Mitchells and Butlers, where her role was to design and implement a quality drinks strategy across the brand's 1,600-strong estate.

Cask Marque managing director Paul Nunny said: "We are delighted to welcome Rachel on board as both an assessor and to support one of our key accounts in Mitchells & Butlers to ensure cask ale gets the focus and care that it deserves.

"With a degree in brewing from Heriot-Watt, experience in running a busy city-centre cask ale pub and then co-ordinating beer strategy and quality at a large retailer, she fits perfectly the profile of what we are looking for in one of our team.

"Balancing the different viewpoints of pubgoers, licensees, brewers and pub retailers can be very difficult but with her background and experience, we have no doubt Rachel will be up to the task."

For her part, Evans said: "I'm pleased to join Cask Marque at such an exciting time for the cask and craft movement – the sector has achieved huge growth in recent years and that's testament to quality products, great marketing and, most importantly, passionate and dedicated people."

"As an industry we're delivering, but there's more to be done. Quality has to be at the heart of beer at every stage in the process from grain to brewery, cellar to glass, so my aim is to support breweries and gain the SALSA accreditation scheme that Cask Marque has recently launched."

Evans joins Annabel Smith as the UK's only female assessors.