The business behind Ouseburn's Arch 2 Brewpub is being liquidated following what has been described as damage to its evening drinks trade during the pandemic.
Newcastle Brewing Ltd was run by father-and-son team Mike and Leo Bell, who set up Arch 2 in a former tyre shop in 2017. The brewpub had originally been housed in units on Newcastle Quayside, and before that in Mike Bell's garage. It offered beers including blondes, pale ales, IPAs, brown ales, saisons and porter, with most lines being brewed on site as well as other local labels for sale.
The Stepney Bank venue - which included an open plan bar, beer garden and microbrewery - closed its doors in January, and now liquidators Andrew Little and Gillian Sayburn at insolvency firm Begbies Traynor are handling the business' affairs. Six employees were made redundant in the move.
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Until October last year, Arch 2 had co-hosted the award winning Thali Tray restaurant, an Indian food offering serving curries in compartmented trays. The eatery has since moved into new premises within Newcastle city centre's Bealim House bar.
In message to customers at the time, Arch 2 said that trading had "started getting back to normal" after the pandemic but "with inflation hitting 10%, fuel and electric increases, supplier price increases, the cost of living and the need to increase staff wages, our drinks-only business model that we had been running successfully for the last five years was no longer sustainable."
Arch 2 introduced a new food offer - Wingin' It - which served deep fried chicken wings, IPA battered chicken burgers and loaded fries. Following a revamp to the venue's kitchen facilities, Wingin' It was intended to extend Arch 2's food service further into the evening and serve all day on Saturday and Sunday.
Now a statement from the joint liquidators said: "Based in Ouseburn, Newcastle, the pub and microbrewery traded profitably until the coronavirus pandemic. The enforced restrictions on capacity and social distancing changed the operation into more of a restaurant than a bar. At that time, the food offering was provided by a third party and, therefore, funds were not being generated by the company. The evening drinking trade suffered significantly. The food service was subsequently taken back by the company, but faced with falling footfall and increasing costs, the directors took the decision to close at the end of January 2023."
More recently Billy Bootleggers, formerly a city centre bar, moved into the Arch 2 premises having turned it into a 150-capacity venue with plans for live music.
Newcastle Brewing Ltd was contact for comment.
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