Vaulkhard Group

Vaulkhard Group

Vaulkhard Group

If you've had a night out in Newcastle in the last thirty years, the Vaulkhard family were probably somewhere behind it. Founded in 1995 and run by brothers Ollie and Harry, Vaulkhard Group operates eleven venues across the North East: Barluga on Grey Street, Blakes, the Bridge Tavern, Bealim House, Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park, the Beehive, Offshore, and sites out in Morpeth, Ponteland and Sunderland. Thirty years of boom and bust have shaped a simple philosophy: build relationships that last, and control the controllables. Since 2022, that philosophy has had to include energy.

If you've had a night out in Newcastle in the last thirty years, the Vaulkhard family were probably somewhere behind it. Founded in 1995 and run by brothers Ollie and Harry, Vaulkhard Group operates eleven venues across the North East: Barluga on Grey Street, Blakes, the Bridge Tavern, Bealim House, Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park, the Beehive, Offshore, and sites out in Morpeth, Ponteland and Sunderland. Thirty years of boom and bust have shaped a simple philosophy: build relationships that last, and control the controllables. Since 2022, that philosophy has had to include energy.

Vaulkhard Group

If you've had a night out in Newcastle in the last thirty years, the Vaulkhard family were probably somewhere behind it. Founded in 1995 and run by brothers Ollie and Harry, Vaulkhard Group operates eleven venues across the North East: Barluga on Grey Street, Blakes, the Bridge Tavern, Bealim House, Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park, the Beehive, Offshore, and sites out in Morpeth, Ponteland and Sunderland. Thirty years of boom and bust have shaped a simple philosophy: build relationships that last, and control the controllables. Since 2022, that philosophy has had to include energy.

£18,000

£18,000

£18,000

saved over the contract

11 venues

11 venues

11 venues

moved in one decision

"You can't control what the world does between now and your energy renewal. What you can do is take good advice, work with a proactive energy partner and a proactive supplier, and play the longer game. That's controlling the controllables."

"You can't control what the world does between now and your energy renewal. What you can do is take good advice, work with a proactive energy partner and a proactive supplier, and play the longer game. That's controlling the controllables."

"You can't control what the world does between now and your energy renewal. What you can do is take good advice, work with a proactive energy partner and a proactive supplier, and play the longer game. That's controlling the controllables."

Ollie - Owner

What thirty years of hospitality teaches you about energy

The sector some suppliers won't even price.

Hospitality has had a rough ride since Covid, through no fault of its own. "Some suppliers still refuse to price for bars and pubs, and some still ask for a security deposit," says Kris, director at Intelligent Gas & Power, whose trusted hands Vaulkhard's portfilio has been placed in. Six suppliers were asked to quote across twelve meters. tem priced every site and came in £9,000 a year below the next best offer.

One venue first. Then the estate.

The relationship started small: the Beehive came to tem in October 2025 on a single contract. When it came up for renewal, Vaulkhard didn't just renew it. They moved the other ten venues across too. For a group whose own philosophy is supplier relationships that last decades, that sequence says everything: try one site, judge the experience honestly, then commit.

Energy that earns its keep.

Behind Barluga on Grey Street there's a terrace with ten umbrellas, each running four electric heat lamps. Full on a Friday night, it burns serious energy, and looks after a serious amount of customers. That's the truth of hospitality: energy isn't a cost you can switch off, it's part of how the business makes its revenue. Ollie's view is that what matters is a fair price that his business can plan around.

In it for the long game

In it for the long game

In it for the long game

Hospitality has been squeezed from every direction since 2022, and energy has done much of the squeezing. Vaulkhard's answer wasn't to chase the market or wait for the world to calm down. It was the approach that's kept them trading for three decades: take good advice, build relationships that last, control the controllables. Eleven venues are now with tem, at a price that beat every alternative on the table. The terrace lamps are on, the fridges are cold, and energy is one line in the accounts Ollie and his team don't have to think about until 2027.

Introducing

RED™

RED™

30% of every bill pays for mark-ups and fees you've never seen itemised. RED removes the them and shows every charge.

Get started

Get started