Member Article

Music, beer and live music on tap at new Newcastle studios

A NEW café, bar and live music venue has opened in Hoults Yard, Newcastle.

Tapyard Studios is a café, bar and meeting place during the day and a 300-capacity performance space for live music, spoken word or poetry by night.

Entrepreneur Sam Roberts is behind the new venue, and he plans to add at least two rehearsal studios to the flexible space in the months ahead.

Sam explained: “The studios will be the beating heart of our business and will be paramount in our vision to build a community hub for musicians and music lovers.”

He was looking for a venue in his home city of Leeds, but when he couldn’t find a suitable space there, he turned his sights north to Tyneside.

“Newcastle is known as a music city, with a great reputation for live music, so we started looking up here, then I saw this space on Rightmove. It was an empty warehouse, but it looked perfect for us,” Sam said.

“My partner Gabby Cooke and I drove up and just knew this was the right place for us. I signed up immediately and we worked hard for a couple of months getting the space right.

“We’ve moved up here – we’d only been to Newcastle a couple of times, but the space is what we were looking for, Hoults Yard has a great vibe and energy, and we love the city so we’re sure we’ve made the right decision.”

Gabby is also the drummer in Leeds-based band Venus Grrrls – a band who have received a lot of support from the north east music scene and are regularly heard on both BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6. Sam studied at Leeds College of Music before starting a career as a freelance recording engineer. Although music is his passion and he’s played in bands throughout his life, Sam has also worked in various positions within the hospitality trade – running musical venues and bars across Leeds, including the popular Bierkeller.

Last year Sam founded We Are Heard, an audio production company which enables schools to generate funds through recording and then selling their own albums of songs.

“I love helping and developing the next generation of musicians, and We Are Heard hopefully inspires young people in that direction. Tapyard Studios will also help provide a platform for new and upcoming bands and musicians.”

Sam has been talking to local and regional music promoters and is putting together a programme of live music for the venue.

In the meantime, Sam has been working hard to create an exciting range of beers. As well as beers from local breweries (including Full Circle, also based on Hoults Yard), Sam is bringing his favourite tastes from Leeds, including North Brewing Co. He’s also working with local street food traders who have been setting up outside his venue.

After quickly establishing a following on Instagram, Sam has already had enquiries about Tapyard Studios being used as a wedding venue.

“It’s such a large, flexible space that can be used for so many different things. Weddings are a possibility and we already have a big Student Club Night booked for Saturday, December 2. We’re planning to broadcast Newcastle United games and to host conferences or work meetings too.

“I have a fond memory of an amazing whiskey masterclass at my all time favourite bar, The Maven back in Leeds a good few years ago. So another avenue we are eager to explore is hosting talks with brand ambassadors of our beloved suppliers, or getting some industry veterans in to host masterclasses on amazing cocktails or spirits.

“We’re currently open from 12pm until 1am and we’ve had folk popping in all hours, for a drink, a coffee, to do a bit of work or just to relax – or to play table tennis on one of our tables. We’ll be looking at regular opening hours once things have settled down and we’ve found our feet,” he added.

Charlie Hoult, MD at HyHubs, which owns Hoults Yard as well as the Hypoint and Haylofts business centres, said: “Tapyard Studios is already one of my favourite places on the Yard. I’ve popped in for a cuppa a few times and now I’m a regular at their table tennis tables.”

Lucy Davenport, Centre Manager at Hoults Yard, added: “ I’m impressed by Sam’s drive, enthusiasm and his clear vision of what he wants to do here. I think Tapyard will quickly become a favourite on the Tyneside music scene, making the Yard more of a destination alongside the likes of 2Knives, Studio 28, Cake Stories, Golf Fang and Full Circle Brew Co.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hoults Yard .