A legal challenge has been filed against the City of London Corporation’s decision to replace the long-standing operators of three popular north London park cafes with a larger chain, a move that has sparked a celebrity-backed campaign and gathered more than 25,000 petition signatures.
Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez, who run Hoxton Beach Limited, have operated the Lido Kiosk Cafe at Parliament Hill since 2018, the Refreshment Pavilion at Queen’s Park since 2018, and the Highgate Wood Cafe since 2019. All three businesses have been commercially successful and built strong local reputations.
However, in December 2025, the City of London Corporation informed the couple that their tenancies would not be renewed. Cafe chain Daisy Green was selected to take over, with Hoxton Beach given just four weeks’ notice to vacate. The decision affects four of five cafes across Hampstead Heath and Queen’s Park, with a separate decision pending on the fifth at Highgate Wood .
The Corporation, which manages the green spaces as a registered charity, said the retendering process was launched to ensure the cafes continue to deliver “a high-quality visitor experience” and that operators had been trading under “unsustainable” tenancies at-will . Moving to longer-term leases under Daisy Green “secures the cafes’ future and economic viability,” a spokesperson said .
Alderman Gregory Jones KC, chair of the relevant committee, added: “As trustee of the charities that manage these open spaces at no expense to the taxpayer, the City Corporation has a duty to act in the best interest of those charities” .
But the decision has provoked a fierce backlash. A petition opposing the move has gathered around 25,000 signatures, with supporters including actors Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer . Local residents have expressed strong opposition, prompting the Corporation to issue an open letter asking cafe users to refrain from directing “hostility, intimidation and harassment” towards Daisy Green .
Hoxton Beach owners Mr Matthews and Ms Fernandez say they received no communication during the tendering process until a December phone call informing them their bids were unsuccessful. They argue the Corporation failed in its duty of candour and that some issues subsequently raised—including an alleged debt to HMRC—were never mentioned during the process, denying them the opportunity to respond.
Lawyers from Leigh Day have now submitted an application for a judicial review, challenging the decision to change the cafe operators. The couple are crowdfunding to support their case.
Hoxton Beach co-owner Emma Fernandez said: ‘We believe that the City of London has acted unlawfully and are incredibly grateful to our counsel and solicitors for the work they are putting in this case. We are also incredibly grateful to our community for their incredible support – as always, we remain open to engage with the City of London for negotiations should they wish to reach out.’
The Corporation maintains the process was “a fair, open, and independently supported process which considered 30 bids, with the Heath Consultative Committee—representing local groups and stakeholders—involved at every stage”
Leigh Day partner Ricardo Gama, who represents Hoxton Beach’s owners, said: ‘Our clients have successfully operated these three cafes for a number of years now, and during this time have built a strong reputation and gained considerable popularity. But despite their clear success, they now face losing the leases for these cafes.
‘They argue that the process undertaken by the City of London Corporation has not been a fair one. The decision-making process has been taken behind closed doors and then presented to Corporation’s consultative committees and to our clients as a fait accompli. They believe that the Corporation is acting not like a public authority with specific statutory duties, but instead like a commercial landowner, and not a very rational one at that.
‘In filing this judicial review claim, Mr Matthews and Ms Fernandez hope that the decision to end their tenancies will be reconsidered.’
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