Highlight café offers “unrivalled opportunity”

Hartlepool Borough Council wants to develop a long-term relationship with a well-established operator to provide a high-quality food and drink offering.

It is aiming to let the premises by informal tender and the closing date for tenders to be submitted is 12 noon on Friday 6th December.

Councillor Gary Allen, Chair of the Council’s Adult and Community Based Services Committee, said: “This is an unrivalled opportunity to lease large waterfront café premises in a brand new building situated in an impressive location overlooking Hartlepool Marina and the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool.

“Highlight is going to be a fantastic facility, both for residents of Hartlepool and visitors from further afield, so it is fair to say that opportunities such as this rarely become available.”

The active wellbeing hub which is expected to welcome around 500,000 visitors annually, is due for completion in late 2025 and will open to the public in early 2026.

The main café seating area will extend to around 267 square metres with waterside views, and there will also be a ground-floor external terrace with further seating. In addition, there will be opportunities to provide catering for a party room within the hub and for other events.

The food and drink offering will focus on contemporary café-style products, including a range of hot drinks, cold soft drinks, light meals, snacks and healthy alternatives.

Tenders should be submitted to Philip Timmins in the Council’s Strategic Asset Management Team at philip.timmins@hartlepool.gov.uk an include the following information:

• Name, address, contact details and tenderer’s status (company, partnership etc).
• Outline of proposed menus and hours of opening (it is proposed that Highlight’s usual opening hours will be 6.30am-9.30pm Monday-Friday and 8.30am-7pm Saturdays and Sundays, although the Council reserves the right to amend these times)
• Outline of current hospitality business operations, including food hygiene ratings.
• Amount of rental offer in pounds sterling and all other terms and conditions proposed.

It is proposed to place vending machines in the seating area, principally to cover times when the café is closed. If tenderers wish to operate these, it should be stated in their submission.

All enquiries should be directed to Philip Timmins by emailing philip.timmins@hartlepool.gov.uk or calling (01429) 523228. Further information is also available at www.hartlepool.gov.uk/highlight-cafe