Hole Farm Cafe Concession

Forestry England is seeking expressions of interest for a brand-new takeaway cafe facility for the new community woodland at Hole Farm, Great Warley (CM13 3JD). Hole Farm is owned by National Highways and is being developed into a new community woodland that will be managed by Forestry England. The new site will host a 94-space car park plus a grass overflow. There will be surfaced paths, waymarked trails and new play equipment across the site. The cafe will be located adjacent to the new car park, at the entrance to the site. This will be a takeaway facility with some covered outdoor seating and picnic benches. The site is situated within the Thames Chase Community Forest, with popular sites such as Thorndon Country Park and Weald Country Park nearby. We therefore expect the new woodland at Hole Farm to be a popular destination, with the populations of Upminster and Brentwood nearby, which both have train links into London. The cafe operator will need to fit out the new kitchen and will be responsible for the building, toilets, bins and seating area associated with the cafe. We expect the lease to commence in April 2025. Prospective suppliers are invited to express an interest in this opportunity and engage in dialogue with us ahead of the tender documents being published (in Autumn 2024). Expressions of interest should be submitted electronically through the Delta eSourcing portal. Following consideration of the initial expressions of interest, Forestry England may wish to engage in further soft market testing with respondents. Therefore, at this stage the scope of the lease and lease duration is still subject to change based on feedback from the market. This prior information notice does not commit Forestry England to any future procurement or any subsequent decisions based on the output of the market sounding exercise. Forestry England reserves the right not to proceed to a formal procurement process.