The battle over who runs three cafes on Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park will be decided by the High Court within the next two months.
High Court judge Mr Justice Sheldon ruled this week that the City of London Corporation will have to defend its decision to award the running of the cafes to new operators.
He said Hoxton Beach — the independent, family-run business behind the Parliament Hill Lido Cafe, plus cafes in Queen’s Park and Highgate Wood — had made an “arguable” case that the bidding process was flawed and unfair.
Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez have run the Lido Cafe since early 2018. The fate of the cafes has hung in the balance while legal proceedings dragged on following the controversial decision, announced on December 17, 2025.
The judge accepted the Corporation’s request that the one-and-a-half day judicial review hearing be speeded up and heard no later than December 17. The body, which runs the open spaces as a charity, now has three weeks to disclose the evidence it will rely on.
What began as a row over cafe contracts has turned into a David and Goliath battle, pitching independent family businesses against a major corporation.
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