Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez

THE couple running the popular Lido Café say they face bankruptcy if Hampstead Heath managers, the City of London, force them to leave.

Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez are taking legal action to halt a tendering process that has seen their successful business handed over to Daisy Green, a café company that runs 21 outlets.

The City began a controversial search for new operators last year – prompting café users to call for the current operators to be given long-term leases.

Instead, the City announced just before Christmas that they were handing over cafés at the Lido, Queen’s Park, Golders Hill Park and Parliament Hill Fields to Daisy Green.

But Mr Matthews and Ms Fernandez say they have no intention of leaving at the beginning of February, when the City has told them to hand over the keys – and will fight the decision in the courts.

Mr Matthews told the New Journal: “We have instructed lawyers. The decision is wrong and should be reversed. The tendering process was flawed for all the cafés.”

They said the City had made them operate on a “tenancy at will” system – meaning it was impossible to make any long-term plans.

Mr Matthews said: “This has been an opaque process, to say the least. We got a call saying we needed to tender and that was that.

“The café working group asked for details and was told it was commercially sensitive. We feel we have been subjected to brutal treatment.

“We got a call on December 19 saying we had not got anything and since then – silence. No explanations, no dialogue.”

Ms Fernandez added: “We know 20,000 have signed a petition to keep us because they like the cafés as they are. We put in excellent tenders and there was no response to our offer.”

The couple say the groundswell of support has shown that both the D’Auria café and their own are greatly valued.

They accept the D’Aurias are now walking away but say if the family had been offered a long lease back in 2016, when the last tendering process took place, and if rents had not been increased, the story for all the cafés would be different.

A legal letter sent by lawyers to the City says there are grounds for the decision to be reversed, including a potential conflict of interest in the marketing process.

The letter raises concerns over the due diligence completed by the City and cites a lack of consultation over what Heath users wanted.

Mr Matthews said: “They did no consulting – not even to the Heath consultative committee. The committee were simply told a marketing process had taken place but they were given no chance to discuss it. Committee members say the City has not learned anything from the Benugo debacle.

“The Heath feels like it has been hijacked by people who never come here, do not know the Heath, nor the people who use it.”

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The couple say the decision disregards the hard work they have put in. Mr Matthews said: “It is very difficult to make money. We will be in real trouble if they kick us out, as it is quiet during the winter, so you have to catch up in the summer.

“Our financial position is such because we have invested to make this café work – and that has made it an attractive proposition for Daisy Green. When we came in, nobody wanted the Lido, Highgate Woods or Queen’s Park.

“We live simply and if they kick us out now, we face bankruptcy. It is an extraordinary way to treat people who have made the cafés attractive.”

Mr Matthews spent time in Damascus in the 1970s studying Arabic and recalled a stall where he would buy falafels.

Their taste and scent stuck with him, so he founded a stall in a Hoxton car park to sell the chickpea-based snacks, which reminded him of times past.

The couple took over the Lido cafe in 2017, after a new tenant lasted eight months.

They also stepped in when Queen’s Park and Highgate Woods cafés were suddenly left without an operator.

Mr Matthews said: “We built it slowly. This is not a plaything – this is hard work. We are now doing a reasonable amount of business. The City gave us a short lease and then a tenancy at will. We have asked for a longer lease repeatedly.”

The couple have now tripled the café’s turnover. Ms Fernandez added: “Being affordable and inclusive is so important. This is somewhere you can have real human connections – that is valuable. If this decision is not reversed, we are bankrupt. They could have done this in a much better way – giving us six weeks’ notice is not reasonable. It is brutal.”

Chair of the Heath management committee, Alderman Gregory Jones KC, said: “The City of London manages Hampstead Heath as a registered charity, at no cost to council taxpayers, investing nearly £12million of its own funds in the last financial year alone to keep the Heath open, safe, and thriving for future generations.

“As sole trustee, we always act in the best interests of the charity, uphold proper governance, and support those entrusted with serving the public on the Heath.

“We are simply seeking to ensure that services are properly run, leases are market-tested, and facilities are sustainable for the long term, which is reflective of good governance.

“Staff in all cafés across the Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park will be paid at least the London living wage – demonstrating a real commitment to supporting those who live and work in the local area.”