Small cafe chain in north London faces eviction

The operator of three north London cafes may face eviction after the City of London Corporation said it would file for possession at the county court.

The corporation, which manages the cafes at Parliament Hill Lido, Highgate Wood and Queen's Park, is looking to remove Hoxton Beach so that new operators Daisy Green can take over.

Daisy Green, which has more than 20 sites in the capital, was granted contracts to run two of the cafes following a remarketing exercise last year.

Hoxton Beach was given formal notice in January that its tenancies would end on 2 February. Last month it launched a judicial review into whether the corporation had acted unlawfully when it awarded the tenancies.

As well as governing the Square Mile, the City of London Corporation manages green spaces, including Hampstead Heath, as a registered charity.

Alderman Gregory Jones, chair of the City of London Corporation's Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen's Park Committee, said Hoxton Beach had been given "ample notice and clear expectations" about its tenancy and the remarketing process.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was "regrettable" that officer time and resources had been spent on legal action.

Hoxton Beach said the corporation had agreed not to seek possession of the three cafes for three weeks following a legal letter issued in February. This expired in early March.

Patrick Matthews, who co-owns Hoxton Beach with his wife Emma Fernandez, said: "Under our stewardship the cafes have trebled in turnover and the [Parliament Hill] Lido has gone from a seasonal to a year-round business.

"They have become affordable community hubs appreciated by tens of thousands of customers."

Matthews said rather than making "aggressive legal moves" the corporation "should put more energy into its legal duty of candour" and release requested documents about its decision-making processes.

Matthews said the decision to hand the cafes to Daisy Green "flies in the face of the wishes of park users, expressed by a 25,000-signature petition".

He believes the corporation "disregarded its legal duty to carry out meaningful public consultation" on the decision.

Matthews said that given the pending judicial review, it would have been reasonable to halt the eviction proceedings, "to avoid the wasted costs and resources of two courts looking at the issue".

The corporation said the remarketing process was open and lawful with 30 bids received.

It saw five north London cafe tenancies go up for tender. Alongside the three run by Hoxton Beach, it included sites at Golders Hill Park and Parliament Hill.

In December the corporation announced that Daisy Green would take on four of the five cafes, and Highgate Wood would be run by a separate operator.

Jones said: "[Hoxton Beach's] decision not to co-operate and vacate the cafes by the advised date has delayed improvements for visitors and disrupted an open, lawful process, designed to secure long-term investment in these facilities.

"Despite all this, Daisy Green has continued to act constructively – engaging positively with the other cafes operators, retaining existing staff, and promising to keep menu favourites."

The county court will consider the corporation's case along with responses from Hoxton Beach at a first hearing held up to eight weeks after the court has issued the claims.

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