THE current operator of the Lido at Havre des Pas – whose contract to run the seaside venue runs out on Christmas Day – has written to the government asking for more time to keep the commercial kitchen and other fittings it has installed at the site.
BeServed Group said it was purely a practical request because the next tenant may want to retain the kitchen, wooden screens, ceiling and other modifications it has made in the decade the company has operated there.
Co-owner Marcus Calvani said that although BeServed Group had made a commitment to now-preferred bidder Love Our Lido to operate the food and entertainment side of the operation, should the community group win the reset tender process, he personally was stepping back.
He said: “We hope for a smooth transition in order to draw a line under this. We have asked the government for an extension beyond next week to leave all the fittings and equipment in situ because it makes sense for any new operator to take on what is already in place, should they wish.
“We assured Love Our Lido that we would work with them should they be selected but that is trickier now because we’ve been forced to make our staff redundant, but the business name and assets still exist.
“One thing that will change is that, whereas in the past I would be serving food and drinks at an event, I – along with my wife Anna – have said that we will be stepping back, and will only be there to help if needed.”
Last week, the government was forced to turn the clock back on deciding who takes over from BeServed Group after an independent report it commissioned concluded that the second half of the process – when a rival to Love Our Lido had assumed ‘preferred-bidder’ status – had been unfair.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan was forced to apologise to States Members on Friday after report author Jurat Anthony Olsen concluded that the Council of Ministers had been mislead during a briefing by Jersey Property Holdings’ director Tim Daniels.
However, in the same statement in the Assembly, Mr Jehan reiterated that BeServed group needed to be out by Christmas.
Mr Jehan said: “In my view, it remains important that we take vacant possession of the site on or before 25 December 2025, to allow the process to be re-run properly. Not doing so risks the public not being able to take vacant possession and award a new lease to one of the parties.”
In trading terms, this has already happened, with the incumbent closing its Lido venue last weekend, but equipment installed by the tenant remains. It is understood that there is a dispute between the government as landlord and the tenant over who owns what.
Mr Calvani told the JEP that he had not been surprised by Mr Olsen’s findings. He added that he agreed that the reset process should be overseen by an independent body – with Jersey Business appointed by Mr Jehan.
Mr Calvani said: “Jurat Olsen’s report was very thorough, and it justified our reasoning. I think it is best if all further conversations and dealings go though Jersey Business because the politics needs to be taken out of this, and we need some impartial professionalism.
“They were already acting as an intermediary between us and the government over the inventory, so it makes sense for them to continue.”
Under the new process, negotiations between Love Our Lido and Jersey Business will take place until the end of January, when the taxpayer-funded business support service will recommend if the community group should be awarded the rent-free nine-year lease or not.
If not, the reserve bidder – which had been preferred bidder until Friday – remains a company called First Point Lido.
Asked for his reaction to Friday’s news, St Clement Constable Marcus Troy, who is director of First Point Lido, declined to comment in detail to the JEP.
“We are maintaining radio silence until we have had our first meeting with Jersey Business,” he said.
The offer on the table from the government to any tenant remains £60,000 a year of taxpayer funding over the lifetime of the lease, in exchange for the tenant taking full responsibility for the venue, including the café, toilets, showers, promenade and maintenance.
