The former Cha Café building is set to reopen next month, after the full details of the tender process were revealed.

Café in the Park was announced as Watford Borough Council’s choice to reopen Cassiobury park's tea pavilion in February.

It will be open daily during park hours from May with a new menu featuring a range of locally sourced and sustainable ingredients, including vegetarian and vegan options.

Associate director of environment and park at Watford Borough Council Paul Stacey said: “We're pleased to welcome Café in the Park as the new operator of the tea pavilion.

“We were impressed with their commitment to sustainability and community involvement, and we're confident that they will provide a high-quality service to our visitors.

“We look forward to seeing the pavilion continue flourish under their management.”

Watford Observer: The Cha CafeThe Cha Cafe

The building was left empty when the former tenants retired in August last year.

Watford mayor Peter Taylor said that the tender process had looked at both the financial bid and the community offer when deciding on a tenant.

“Our priority when deciding the successful candidate for the lease was to maintain the café as a community hub,” he added.

Two council responses to Freedom of Information requests published on What Do They Know have revealed more about how the process worked.

There were 82 enquiries about the building, 28 tenders were submitted, and the six bids that offered the most money in terms of rent were shortlisted for scoring.

Watford Observer: The Cha Café on closing dayThe Cha Café on closing day (Image: Neil Tester)An anonymised table from Watford Borough Council shows “company 1” (Café in the Park) scored highest or equal highest in all categories on the council's Tea Pavilion
Best Offer Comparison Weighted Scores.

In its response to the FOI the council added that the community was not directly involved in judging the tenders.

Instead, the community offer was judged by councillors and council officers “who had previously engaged with groups such as the Friends of Cassiobury Park, sports clubs, and bandstand users and had a good understanding of the wants and needs from these groups and the wider community".

Rental offers were scored based on “the level of rent in excess of £16,000” per year.

Watford Observer: The spreadsheet provided by Watford Borough Council in response to the FOIThe spreadsheet provided by Watford Borough Council in response to the FOI (Image: Watford Borough Council/What Do They Know)