Guernsey cafe tenants allowed to stay for three years

Friday, 5 September 2025 11:25

Belmiro de Freitas and his partner opened their café at Fermain this morning knowing that they do not have to leave by the end of October.

Guernsey's Royal Court has given the beach café tenants a three year extension to their lease.

For the past 18 months they have been living with the possibility that the business they have built up over more than two decades could be taken away from them.

Last year, they and others bid for the lease of the café. As incumbents they had already put years of work into the business.

The States said at the time that it was perfectly normal to re-tender a lease of this sort.

Bel de Freitas lost to Pearl Oyster, the company that runs the St Peter Port cafés Coco and Lolas, but there was an immediate public backlash.

A petition supporting the de Freitas' gained considerable support and the café has stayed open this year, despite a legal battle between the couple and the Policy and Resources Committee.

That came to a conclusion yesterday (4 September) when the Royal Court awarded the de Freitas' a three year lease extension, taking their tenancy to the end of October 2028.

This morning Bel de Freitas told us he is just happy to be back in his café.