What’s happening Newcastle’s most vibrant business centre?
Hoults Yard opened with a trio of cultural attractions for this year’s Late Shows event. We had over 450 visitors – it was a really exciting date on the city’s calendar with over 35 different venues open after hours (and some LateLate!)
Streetwise Opera's Open Mic session at Clocktower Cafe
Globe Gallery's exhibition in ThinkTank art space
LateShows extra - a film shoot at HYBY during the evening
It’s all action at HYBY, Hoults Yard Byker. The spring has sprung a host of cultural daffodils, new projects and new clients. Some dates for your diary, some news and a few welcomes.
To slim down my post, I’ve done a host of hypertext click-thrus. Anything colour underlined links to associated websites.
May 14/15
This weekend is Tyne & Wear Museums’ Late Shows and we have three separate activities in the mix – anopera sing-a-long in the cafe, NFM film screenings and the launch of our gallery space ThinkTank with Globe Gallery. Come along!
May 30
Promoters Habit are continuing their series of Warehouse Parties with another massive lineup – Habit is really adding something new and special to Newcastle’s nightlife and they’ve sold out every night so far, so book now if this is your thing… Tensnake and Prosumer are both German DJs with chart success in UK.
Jun 3
Artists Laura Lancaster and Susie Green are hosting a ‘Meet the Neighbours’ night in their studio – Kiln 4. They moved here from a much smaller space and have been blown away by the chance to be really expansive… let’s hope Laura might make a guest appearance with her band Me & The Twins, which she does with her sister Rachel and a chap from Geordie hitsters Maximo Park. Please come and press your noses up at HYBY’s village meet-up… the more the merrier!
Jun 23
The World Cup will soon be in full swing. We’re hosting ‘World Cup in a Warehouse’ with Muckle LLP, UBSwealth managers and PR supremos O Communications. England v Slovenia is a 3pm kick-off, so we’re reckoning it’s best to diary the afternoon as ‘networking’ with a big screen, hog roast, band and some ales. To boot, we’ve even got a premier screening of the footy film One Night in Turin, which HYBY clients NFMfinanced and Mere Mortals edited. To join the toe-tapping Baghdaddies and 250 others for the only England game in office hours. Email our Events Manager - shawn@houltsyard.co.uk
Put the Sunday of August Bank Holiday in light pencil in your diaries as we work out the logistics, licensing and line-up for a Habit all-dayer.
What’s new?
There’s an air of purposeful productivity about the yard at the moment. The Hoults team is running a series of relocations as we prepare for a renovation in the front Maling Studios block. So Real Life Options is moving to Kiln 9; City & Suburban is moving to a new office; Fly on the Wall is buzzing into Clocktower; Chapmans Furniture has switched to a new warehouse.
The rejig has uncovered some great spaces for quirky office and studio units, including our very own dungeon! Give Leanne a call on 0191 265 4282 if you’d like to view these and visualise yourself in a stone cellar or dusty attic!
The spring cleaning broom has also brushed things up for Jack Lowe who is now above his friday F&C chumsProjected Image (pop in for fresh flowers and great views) and onebestway is switching to Kiln 10/11 for a change of scene.
You may have seen Shawn flitting around the yard too – by way of introduction, he is a jack of all trades with a background in fishing, butchery, car spraying and chemistry. An ideal CV for dealing with art projects! One of the first projects he’s nailed is to create a gym for a fight club documentary producer Andy Smith (who doubles as a consultant at Mere Mortals) – Andy’s film Is it ‘cos I’m fat? will follow his progress from self-confessed tub to axe and sword champ. Watch out for French graffiti art or student art shows, a studio block or or…
Our Teapot Studios, trendy offices for two, have filled up fast with Mac support specialists Zen and building surveyors Harrow Consulting joining the corridor with craft software proucer FunkyHand and Point Pleasant PR. Watch out for phase two – shall we call it JamJar… spaces for 4 people…
Every year Tyne & Wear Museums runs Late Shows.
This year there are three events at Hoults Yard:
2. Streetwise Opera at Clocktower Cafe
It’s great to be part of the event – and a short hop from Mushroom Works also open alongside some Ouseburn excitements etc.
See ya.
Hi
I had hoped to keep you in peace for a month after my last HYBY epic news update. HYBY… that’s this week’s moniker for Hoults Yard Byker. Such is the whirlwind of activity on site, that I want to keep the newsflow more ‘little and often’. Do read on as I have included a key contact at BT, free advertising and ways to get discounts at Hotel du Vin… it’s six quick points.
Please circulate this to colleagues – if you receive this as a forward, do mail me to get onto the mail list.
It’s all posted on the blog – comment there: http://houltsyard.wordpress.com or follow @houltsyard or #HYBY on Twitter.
1. Meet the Neighbours
Can I remind everyone about a drink-up on Mar 11th from 430pm?
It’s a chance to see our meeting facilities in The Kiln upstairs, plus share tales with neighbours – and other folk doing similar things to you.
I hope to talk people thru plans for the yard, including licensing for alcohol which could lead to a bar on site. More interestingly, see Point5 below. Daymon Britton has volunteered to talk thru the making of his short film with Chris Foggin (and tell us about a recent NFM scholarship he had to attend a actor/director course with Geordie legend Mike Figgis).
Please sign up so we know how much ale to order.
Please share this with all your colleagues and contacts as they are most welcome!
2. Free advertising online
Our hot desking SomewhereSpace is hotting up with freelancers and start-ups. New in this week is digital design team Readysalted.
Also signed up is Richard Stoddart of HOHound, a new local news site for Heaton and Ouseburn. www.hohound.co.uk is offering free banner ads to anyone and everyone at the yard for the next weeks, plus starting a regular news section on yard news – click here to view. Drop me a line if you fancy raising your profile in HO and I’ll connect you to Richard.
3. Broadband and telecom problem solved
We love to hate BT. But wait. We have found someone who’s job is to track, chase and sort out all our comms issues. He’s not an anonymous offshore call centre bot, he’s Allan Watson. He has a direct line and an email address – and he’s based near the Metro Centre. He’s volunteered to take on any telecom hassles, including other providers (which all go back to BT somehow in the end). Give him all you’ve got – make him a hero:
Allan Watson 0191 461 4242 (looks like a switchboard, but is his voicemail or in person – I checked)
allan.watson@btlocalbusiness.co.uk
4. Hotel du Vin discounts
More helpful humans… I recently met Kate Embleton, HdV’s biz dev manager. Our local boutique has benefited from all the recent HYBY action, including 5 week bookings for Emilia Fox, Greta Scaachi and Ben Chaplin, stars of Coastal’s feature film Ways to Live Forever. They want our business, but they are prepared to offer great prices and complimentary upgrades if availability allows. Call Kate direct and she will sort out the best rates – we’re talking as low as £65 per night on their quieter Fri/Sun, or the £100 mark including breakfast. Kate can give you a tour of the suites – amazing views from the bath of ‘Mouton-Rothschild’ right up the Tyne. Or, have your very own roof terrace with a Spillers view. The more we can push their way, the better for the overall service/price/attention!
kate.embleton@hotelduvin.com – 07786 918425 – 0191 229 2200
5. Yard on film
Who cares about film stars when you can see friendly faces on film? Daymon Britton and Jamie Hutchinson of Picture Canning North are finalists in Empire Magazine’s short film. They’ve beaten off 100,000 entries to get to the last 20 – vote for them to win the prize. Click here for the link.
6. Artists studios
We now have half a dozen artists on site (that’s if you include secret Picasso, our very own Sam Elliott – though his allotment shed serves as his studio). More info on the blog,click here. Now we’re open for business for artists, do recommend them here so we can build up a thriving scene.
We have a hidden squad of bands that do late shifts around the yard – we’re working to identify their talents, too.
The current idea is to enter a yard project to the Tyne&WearMuseums LateShows event on 14/15 May this year. We’re thinking battle of the bands, expo and maybe even a graffiti spray-off. If you have something you’d like to profile, then give me a shout and we’ll see if we can add it to the submission to give you more exposure.
Bye.
