Information Pack. LCB Depot café/bar lease. Date: 04 July 2013 Contact Tel:

Transcription

1 Information Pack LCB Depot café/bar lease Date: 04 July 2013 Contact Tel:

2 Contents: 1. Introduction 2. About LCB Depot 3. About the Café 4. About the Legal Arrangements 5. Timescales and How to Apply 1. Introduction LCB Depot is looking for an experienced, dynamic, independent and entrepreneurial provider to operate its busy, licenced café/bar - Refuel. This document outlines the key information needed to understand all that is available, and to make an offer for the lease and management of the café/bar. We are inviting applications from commercial operators and social enterprises for a 5 year lease of the kitchen, servery and seating areas located on the ground floor of the building. We are particularly interested in attracting a provider that supports the ethos and aspirations of LCB Depot and its creative business community. 2. About LCB Depot LCB Depot is a dynamic creative business workspace hub, managed by Leicester City Council. We provide: Managed workspaces for around 200 creative businesses, across three sites in the cultural quarter - LCB Depot, Phoenix Square Workspaces and Makers Yard, detailed on the map below. Business development advice, networking, events, and exhibition opportunities for a community of around 700 creative professionals. 4 meeting rooms for public and business use A public café/bar. LCB Depot is aiming to be the most dynamic creative business hub in the East Midlands, attracting the best of the region s creatives. LCB Depot is based in the cultural quarter of Leicester city centre. It is within easy walking distance of the train and bus stations. For more info about LCB Depot, visit Or visit us in person at LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester LE1 1RE. 2

3 Makers Yard 3. About the Café Location of the Café The café is situated on the ground floor of the main building A of LCB Depot building, as detailed below. The ground floor also includes a busy reception area, meeting rooms and an exhibition gallery. As the café is integrated into the reception area of LCB Depot, it must be run sympathetically to the business environment. If sufficient revenue income is generated in the first year to support the case, there may be backing, scope and potential financial assistance to relocate the café servery to the front of the building in the future, if desired. 3

4 LCB Depot café view out to the courtyard from the reception area Business client and networking meetings are held at the café. 4

5 The sunny, private external courtyard with ping pong table! Floor plan of the LCB Depot site. The café is situated in the red box. 5

6 Café Area Rutland Street Meeting room Reception Additional Seating area Additional Seating area Internal café seating area External café seating area Entrance Servery Kitchen Store room Garage Bin area Close-up of LCB Depot building A floor plan with designated café areas. The premises to be included in the lease comprises of an equipped kitchen, serving area, internal seating area in front of the servery, and external seating area in the courtyard, all on the ground floor of LCB Depot (shown in green). The seating areas are exclusively for the use of the café/bar and are equipped with tables, chairs and a large parasol. In addition, the café will also have the use of the other internal seating areas (shown hatched orange) on a shared basis with other users of the LCB Depot building. The café will also have shared use of: 1. A lockable store room (in blue) 2. A garage (in blue) which houses plastic and oil recycling containers 3. A bin area for glass, card and general waste (in blue). The licensee will be responsible for keeping all of these areas clean and tidy and ensuring that tables are kept clean and clear of rubbish etc. 6

7 Staffing The café currently operates without a formal manager. The staff team are: 1 permanent café/bar assistant 30 hours per week (8.30am- 2.30pm Mon-Fri). In addition, the café also operates with one casual cook and 3 casual cafe/bar assistants that work on a sessional basis. It is the Council s preliminary view that some or all of these staff will transfer as part of the lease pursuant to TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection Employment Regulations) Further information will be provided on this in due course. Menu The Refuel café/bar currently offers a popular menu of simple, inexpensive, locally sourced, home-cooked food: Breakfasts: hot breakfast rolls, porridge, toast and topping Lunch: sandwiches, ciabattas, melted paninis, salads, jacket potatoes, burgers. Hot drinks: tea and coffee from a Brazillia coffee machine, including teapigs branded tea. Cold drinks: organic fizzy drinks, fruit juices, cans and children s juices. A pdf menu is available on request, or via There is lots of scope to change or develop the menu. Opening Hours It will be a condition of the lease that as a minimum, the café is open Mon-Friday- excluding Bank Holidays. The opening hours of LCB Depot are: Mon Fri: 9 am pm Sat & Sun: Closed Bank holidays: Closed Christmas week: normally closed The building is currently opened by LCB Depot for ad hoc events e.g. networking events on weekday evenings or public social events on weekend days 12-4pm. Approximately half of these events require café/ bar staffing, and half require buffet platters and/or drinks from the café in advance. 7

8 The Council reserves the right to amend LCB Depot opening hours at any time. There is scope to extend the operating hours of the café outside of the above opening hours for LCB Depot, subject to agreement, for example to provide early breakfasts to tenants, or a pre-theatre menu after 5.30pm. Security arrangements for opening the café and building outside of LCB Depot opening hours will be the responsibility of the operator, in agreement with Leicester City Council (LCC), to ensure the safety and security of the building outside of usual operating hours. Catering Equipment The kitchen, store room and garage have the following commercial catering equipment which will remain the property of LCC, but the cleaning, maintenance and like-for-like replacement will be at the cost and responsibility of the successful operator: Twin gas fat fryer Double gas oven range with 4 hob burner Gas griddle Gas grill 1 microwave Electric potato/ cake oven Walk in chilled room 1 fridge 3 freezers Shelving units 1 Soup urn Dishwasher Cutlery and crockery, pans, chopping boards, knives, serving utensils Takeaway containers 1 bin 1 BBQ The café/ bar and seating areas that form the basis of the lease have the following equipment which will remain the property of LCC, but the cleaning, maintenance and like-for-like replacement will be at the cost and responsibility of the successful operator: Brazilia coffee machine - (Tipo RR55-OD) 1 triple fridge Integrated counter and shelving units 1 urn 1 filter coffee machine Dishwasher 8

9 14 thermos flasks 1 catering trolley 2 bins Stereo and sound system Desk area 2 sofas 6 tables 22 chairs 8 external tables 26 external chairs 1 large parasol 1 magazine rack 1 low level table 3 low level table lamps The café/ bar and seating areas that do not form the basis of the lease have the following equipment which will remain the property of LCC and can be used by the café on a shared basis. The cleaning and maintenance will be at the cost and responsibility of the successful operator, but there is no obligation on the operator to replace: 2 sofas 2 low level tables 1 magazine rack 9 tables 38 chairs 2 long cushioned banks In addition there are various sundry dry goods and perishable food and drink stock items that can be purchased by the successful operator at cost price, or stored/ recycled, to be agreed prior to the commencement of the lease. Customer Base The current customer base is: Tenants: LCB Depot manages 53 workspaces, which means that around 150 people are in the building on an average week day. Meeting room hire delegates: LCB Depot hosts around 155 hours worth of meetings per month for public and private sector organisations, with currently one in 5 taking tea and coffee catering, and around one in 10 taking food. This equates to about 13 catering orders per month, with an average spend 50 per order - around 650 worth of catering in total per month. General public: LCB Depot welcomes around 50 public visitors per week day 12,500 per year. Visitors come in to see the gallery, attend informal meetings (5-10 meetings in the cafe per day) or do work in the café on the free wifi. Local attractions such as Phoenix Square and Curve theatre attract around 3000 people into the area each day. 9

10 Artists and other creatives: The LCB Depot exhibition gallery changes on average every 3 weeks and there are around 2 creative after hours networking events held in the café per month. Local business people: Colton Square office park is just 200m from LCB Depot, hosting around 1500 people. This is a relatively untapped lunchtime market. Leicester City Council will soon be relocating its central offices away from New Walk Centre (the two tower blocks between New Walk and Welford Road) to Attenborough House, a new City Hall on Charles Street. This means that from early 2014 around 600 additional staff will be located within 100 metres from LCB Depot. Income Streams The current income streams are: Counter cash and card sales Meeting room hire catering Tenant invoices/ tab accounts Glass hire Out of hours event hire including weekend events Potential income streams to be further developed are: Tenant tabs Tenant trolley service/ pre-ordering service Evening food offer e.g. pre-theatre menu Off site event catering loading only car parking is available to the rear of the building along with the large kitchen area. Marketing Channels LCB Depot is keen to develop collaborative marketing to maximise the footfall to the building. The following channels are available to support the café, subject to further discussion and agreement: LCB Depot update newsletter LCB Depot twitter feed LCB Depot facebook page LCB Depot tenant facebook page Flyering via tenant post boxes Poster area in reception A5 flyer holders on tables 10

11 4. About the Legal Arrangements Main terms of the proposed lease Please note that this is not a legal document It is proposed to grant the successful applicant a 5 year lease which will be contracted out of the security of tenure provisions (Sections 24-28) of the Landlord and Tenant Act The main heads of terms for the proposed lease are set out below: 1. The lease is to be in respect of the café/bar on the ground floor of the LCB Depot, Rutland Street, Leicester. The leased area is shown coloured green on the above plan and includes the outdoor seating area which is for the exclusive use of the café/bar. The two areas hatched orange on the plan are shared spaces with tables and chairs. The areas coloured blue on the plan are a store, garage and bin area to be shared with Leicester City Council. In the green, hatched orange and blue areas the café tenant is to be responsible for keeping the area clean and tidy. 2. The lease to be for a term of 5 years to commence from the 1 st October The initial rent shall be 7,000 per annum, exclusive of rates, VAT and all other outgoings payable quarterly in advance. The rent will be subject to review at the end of the 3 rd year of the lease. A three month rent free period is to be granted at the commencement of the lease. 4. The tenant will have the option of serving 6 months notice to terminate the agreement at any time after the end of the first year of the lease. Also a break clause will be included in the agreement enabling either the landlord or tenant to terminate the lease at the end of the first year and third years by serving three months notice. 5. The premises are to be used as a café/bar only. 6. The minimum opening hours of the café are to be 8.30 am 5.00 pm Mon Fri, excluding Bank Holidays. There will be scope to operate the café/bar outside these hours, for example to provide breakfasts earlier to tenants of the LCB Depot, or a pre-theatre menu after 5.00 pm. It is also expected that the café/bar will be open for evening and weekend events held by the City Council at the LCB Depot, if required. 7. The lessee will not use any part of the property for a purpose which may in the landlord s opinion constitute a nuisance or which may cause a nuisance, annoyance or inconvenience to the landlord or its tenants or to any person including any conduct or activity which amounts to any act of discrimination or harassment, whether on the grounds of race, sex, 11

12 sexual orientation, religious belief, age or disability of employees of the landlord or the tenant or of other tenants of the landlord or their employees. 8. The tenant will be responsible for obtaining any required licences under the Licensing Act The City Council will be responsible for all repairs to the premises and all the services therein with the exception of: a. The internal decoration of the kitchen and servery which will be the responsibility of the lessee. b. Any repairs to the premises necessitated by the lessee s negligent, inappropriate or neglectful behavior or willful damage, such as inappropriate disposal of oils and fat, which will be repaired by the lessor, with the cost re-charged to the lessee. 10. The lessee will keep and return at the end of the term in good working order all of the equipment and furniture detailed elsewhere in these particulars. 11. The lessee shall be responsible for the payment of Business Rates and all other directly-related outgoings including electricity charges, gas and water charges in respect of the leased premises. 12. The lessee is to comply with the requirements of the TUPE regulations detailed in the Staffing section of these particulars. 13. The lessee is not permitted to assign, sublet or share the leased area in any way. 14. All other terms will be as those usually adopted by the City Council in an agreement of this type. Roles and responsibilities included in the lease The following roles and responsibilities will be included in the lease: 1. Upkeep of Council s food hygiene and health and safety standards 2. Staff building induction including locking/ unlocking procedures and lone working policy 3. Annual review of contract with LCB Depot management staff, including accurate record of financial performance 4. Commitment to complying with the principles of the Council s comments, compliments, complaints procedure 12

13 5. Delivery of similar/ improved food and drink offer to that currently provided including meeting room and event catering. 6. Commitment to use of fair trade tea and coffee supplies, and locally sourced food where possible. 7. Delivery of offer that s complimentary to a 24/7 workspace premises and tenant community, with regards to e.g. music and noise/ strong smells/ amount and type of refuse/ out of hours events/ offers. 8. Compliance with data protection legislation about e.g. tenant contact information. 9. PAT testing of all owned electrical appliances 13

14 What the rent includes/ excludes The rent includes the following: Service charge including building management, periodical window cleaning, standard refuse collections Free business development advice via our in-house development team. Access to Council apprenticeship schemes and business grants The rent excludes the following costs which would also need to be paid for by the lessee: Business rates we currently pay 4050 p.a.. The current ratable value is 9000 (150m2 x 60pm2) and the business rate multiplier value is This current business rate cost doesn t include any potential rate relief such as small business rate relief that may be available to the operator. Electricity - currently 4800 p.a. for the kitchen and servery area. Gas a fair apportionment to be advised Cleaning and maintenance of all café equipment and furniture, including PAT testing of all equipment and coffee machine check p.a. Additional bin collection per additional bin collection, or per recycling bin. Music licence p.a. Insurance to minimum levels required by LCC Alcohol licence from 23 Designated Premises supervisor licence from 23 Broadband and telephone service costs Branding, marketing, menu and display costs Staff uniforms The occupier will be responsible for paying the City Council s reasonably incurred legal costs in the preparation of the lease. These are estimated to be in the region of 500. Any other costs directly associated with the cafe Requirements of the application for a Lease A business plan for operating the café is required. This plan should include the following: o Details of previous experience in running a catering business (if applicable) o Proposals for how the café/bar will be run, including details of the target markets, range of food and drink which will be offered and pricing strategy o Details of how the café/bar would support the creative business community and aspirations of LCB Depot. 14

15 o Applications detailing innovative ideas that could turn LCB Depot into a destination café/bar will be favourably looked upon. The granting of a lease to the selected candidate(s) will be subject to satisfactory trade and financial references. Negotiable areas of the lease to be agreed subject to further discussion Name and identity of café Meeting room catering booking and invoicing process Additional opening hours and building responsibility out of business hours Evening hire offer arrangements and prices Off-site meeting/ event catering Tenant tabs/ offers/ benefits LCB Depot events and associated room hire/ catering implications Music policy and noise levels Loading only car parking space Collaborative marketing 15

16 5. Timescales and How to Apply Timescales Action Delivery date Café opportunity advertised Early July 2013 Application deadline 5pm Friday 2 August 2013 Shortlisted providers notified W/c 12 August 2013 Interview & presentation of ideas from shortlisted companies Tuesday 20 August 2013 please keep free! All applicants notified of final decision End August 2013 Induction/ introductory meetings Sept 2013 Legal start date 1 October 2013 To apply Please send in the following information to Julia Hamer at Julia.hamer@lcbdepot.co.uk by 5pm on Friday 2 August 2013 A business case or equivalent document outlining your plans for the café, including your contact and phone number and two trade references. Decision-making criteria The following criteria will be used to make the shortlisting and final decision: Ability and relevant experience of running a commercially successful café Quality and commercial viability of proposed café offer Offer and provider complimentary to LCB Depot s vision, values, building and team, and to other offers in the cultural quarter. Offer and provider appealing to tenant creative business market References 16