CAFÉ VELO 48 Collier Street London N1 9QZ Expression of Interest brief 1 Peabody, one of London’s leading Social Landlords is inviting expressions of interest from individuals, catering entrepreneurs or organisations wishing to operate a newly refurbished café linked to its Hugh Cubitt Centre in Collier St, Islington. Background The café space is part of the centre owned and run by Peabody. The centre was built in 2004 as part of the refurbishment of the Priory Green Estate, following its transfer from ownership by Islington Council to Peabody. It is the base for range of activities including dance classes, art classes, training and employment support and training courses for Peabody group staff. Recently the café was relaunched with a cycling safety theme; Collier Street is one of the roads which will be included in London Grid Plan to offer safer cycling routes across the capital funded by GLA. The café has recently been refurbished to include a catering standard kitchen in addition to its existing smaller kitchen. The catering kitchen has the following equipment: A double sink with pre rinser, a dishwasher, under counter fridge, industrial microwave, 6 burner gas catering stove with full extraction, preparation surfaces and a hand washing sink.. The kitchen also has a counter and pull down shutter. There is a further large fridge freezer in a storage room adjacent to the kitchen. The small kitchen is equipped with a sink, under counter fridge, microwave and preparation area, separate hand washing sink. There is room for 20 covers on the ground floor with a further 4 on a first floor. The café is fully accessible and has a lift from ground to first floor, male and female toilets and a ground floor wheelchair accessible toilet. In addition there is a terrace area to the front and further terrace accessible form the café at the rear. There are three storage cupboards for equipment and supplies. Some furniture is available, including tables, chairs and outside furniture, but we are happy for the new occupant to supply their own furniture. The total floor space is 45 sq. m. 2 3 The opportunity This space offers the opportunity to run a small café within walking distance from Pentonville Road, Upper Street and Kings Cross. The successful applicant will be able to develop the space to their own vision and although recent plans to combine the encouragement of cycling is desirable, Peabody are flexible about its future approach as long as the applicant is able to deliver to its stated requirement outlined in following section. Any plans to support training or apprenticeships as part of the venture would be looked on favourably. The café should be open at minimum weekdays 10am to 4pm, but if required can be opened at weekends and during the evenings. Although the café is not based on a major thoroughfare, there is regular passing trade with many people cutting through from the Angel down towards Kings Cross and in the past the café was well used by people living on the estate. The estate itself is a major architectural landmark in social housing having been designed by Berthold Lubetkin in the 1950s. During this year’s Open House week it attracted over a 100 individual visitors and much more could be made of the link to the estate’s important place in the history of British social architecture. Peabody owns over 800 properties in the area and the demographic of these residents is broken down as follows: Diversity Mix Age Range Asian or Asian British 186 Black or Black British 128 Chinese or other ethnic group 27 Mixed race 18 White Refused to answer 406 Total 831 66 0 -4 5 14 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85-94 Unknown 44 160 116 94 73 106 26 55 86 17 54 831 4 In addition to the café’s two kitchens, seating space over two floors and outside terraces, there is the option to use a further first floor kitchen in order to prepare food for outside catering. A car parking space can be made available for an operator’s vehicle, as parking restrictions do apply in the street, although there are meter bays close by. There are a number of cycle parking stands directly outside the café. The successful applicant will be responsible for public liability insurance and will need to meet all requirements for all food safety legislation and inspection. Peabody’s requirements Peabody are looking for individuals, businesses or organisations that could deliver the following  A café providing healthy affordable food for those living and working in the local area (ideally sourcing produce from ethical local suppliers)  A full catering service that would take orders for, prepare and deliver lunches, teas and coffees for regular training courses run by Peabody’s Learning and Development team. Currently worth £1200 per month.  A catering service for ad hoc events taking place in or around the centre. Peabody would offer the café on a renewable 3 year lease and would be seeking a nominal rent return based on a sliding scale Year 1 - £1500 per annum payable on a monthly basis Year 2 - £3000 per annum Year 3 - £6000 per annum All services costs for electricity, gas, water, drainage and refuse collection will be met by Peabody in the first year of operation and thereafter be negotiated between Peabody and the café operator. 5 Criteria Candidates will be shortlisted against the following criteria. Please outline as part of your application how you and your business plan will meet these: - A connection to the local area Affordability of meals for local residents Emphasis on health and wellbeing Providing opportunities for local people including volunteering, training or apprenticeships - Previous catering experience and track record - Previous marketing experience - Unique creative ideas and ability to engage with the local community Process Peabody would like Expressions of interest outlining plans for how an applicant would deliver against its 3 main requirements and elaborating on any other elements that the applicant would wish to incorporate into the venture. The deadline for expressions of Interest is Friday 30th January 2015 with interviews planned for Tuesday 10th February. For a chance to view the premises and discuss further please contact Catherine Andrews at [email protected] 6