Wylam Brewery announces merger with Vaulkhard

Newcastle-based Wylam Brewery has announced plans to merge with local pub and restaurant operator Vaulkhard Leisure.

The move follows what it describes as a close relationship between the brewery and the operator, which currently owns 15 venues across the north-east area, with sites in Newcastle, Sunderland, Gosforth and Morpeth.

The merging of the two companies follows a long-running close relationship between the firms. Three years ago Vaulkhard also bought Wylam’s pub sites, the Town Wall and Bridge Tavern, as the brewery wanted to roll-back on its on-trade operation and focus on brewing.

The brewery is based in the Palace of Arts in Newcastle, which was renovated by Wylam, following years of being closed and falling into a state of disrepair, before now becoming a destination site for craft beer lovers.

Wylam operates its small-scale brewing operation on-site as well as a taproom, and also does live events in the Grand Hall of the facility. The brewery has been based at the Exhibition park site for eight years, and the merger with Vaulkhard would see it potentially providing a significant volume of beer to the operator.

It was originally set up by Dave Stone and Rob Cameron — who also owns the nearby By The River Brew Co — as a micro-brewery. But since arriving at the Palace of Arts, the brewery has become something of an institution, with regular food and music festival with a variety of famous acts performing.

A post on social media read: “We are excited to today announce we are entering into a merger with Vaulkhard Leisure (VL) which will bring 14 Independent North East venues, including our home here at Palace Of Arts, into one estate…

“We have worked alongside VL here in the North East for many years and share their pride in our region… the merger will see our core range scaled out across the estate bringing super fresh beers to a plethora of new taps…. this represents an exciting new chapter in our journey.”

When reaching out for comment from Wylam, a spokesperson told db that it currently had no additional comments to add yet about the plans.