- Application: Fully complete the application form and forward electronically to BEDC, via kitchens@bedc.bm Please CC in Jonathan Starling (jstarling@bedc.bm) and William Spriggs (wspriggs@bedc.bm).
- Program Acceptance / Refusal: BEDC will acknowledge your application and forward you a formal response via email to confirm your program acceptance or refusal following receipt.
- Kitchen/User Matching: Subject to availability, BEDC will email you a listing of kitchens that match your business profile and needs. If no kitchens are available at your time of program acceptance, you will be notified of this fact and placed on a waiting list.
- Department of Health Licensing: After you have contacted the kitchen owner(s) that has/have availability and meet(s) your product/service needs and following agreement of a kitchen owner to work with you, the relevant kitchen owner will forward you a formal “Intent to Lease” email in order to provide you with the written support necessary for you to request a Department of Health license for you to operate within the kitchen.
- Kitchen User Agreement: After receipt of your Department of Health license, a copy of the license should be sent to the kitchen manager as soon as possible, after which you will be forwarded a draft kitchen lease for review and signature (the “Kitchen Lease”). The Kitchen Lease will set out the length of the lease, rent payable and the other terms and conditions applicable to the tenancy and use of the kitchen. BEDC shall only be only copied in all communications to ensure program efficiency and shall not be a party to the Kitchen Lease – the kitchen usage agreement is solely between the kitchen facility and the user/tenant. The time period for a user to receive kitchen approval to operate should be between 1 and 4 weeks, the longer period taking into account a situation where kitchen manager needs to receive board/committee approval.
- BEDC Communication: Once obtained you should provide BEDC with a copy of the Department of Health license and a fully signed copy of your Kitchen Lease.
Kitchen Usage
The kitchen owner/manager will provide the user with access to and use of the commercial kitchen, subject to the terms of the Kitchen Lease.
Kitchen Facility Equipment
The commercial kitchens within the program are shared-use facilities, equipped with commercial stoves, ovens, sinks, freezers, refrigerators, prep tables, dry storage and other food preparation equipment. The user shall maintain the kitchen in a sanitary and orderly state and follow all applicable health and safety standards. It is the user’s responsibility to furnish all small wares needed for their food processes. It is also the user’s responsibility to ensure that the kitchen is left in a sanitary and orderly state at the end of the user’s rent period and each time that it uses the kitchen. It is the user’s responsibility that all waste products are disposed of appropriately in the provided refuse bins and not allowed the block and sinks or drains. The user will provide their own food, spices, bowls, spoons, towels, pots, pans, cleaning supplies (dishwashing liquid, cleaning cloths, trash bags), etc. When the user’s agreed time within the kitchen has ended, the user will remove their food and equipment from the kitchen unless written permission is received from the kitchen manager to store items on site. The kitchen owner/manager will not be held responsible for misplaced items. Any basic supplies such as paper towels, toilet paper, bleach/sanitizer, dish Soap, hand Soap, mop, bucket, broom, dust-pan will be detailed within the kitchen and user/tenant lease agreement.
User/Tenant Prerequisites:
All users of BEDC’s kitchen program will provide the below documentation to BEDC before use of any kitchen facility and the signing of any Kitchen Lease:
- Application form
- General public liability/personal liability insurance policy
- Intent to Lease letter from the kitchen owner/manager (to support Dept. of Health license request)
- Copy of Department of Health food service license
- Refundable security deposit to be paid in accordance with the Kitchen Lease (if applicable).
Scheduling of Use Outside of Lease Agreement:
Because the kitchen is a shared use facility catering to other users at various days and times, the kitchen owner/manager shall control the times and manner of all users’ access to and use of the kitchen in line with the Kitchen Lease. Any use requested outside the times/dates set out in the Kitchen Lease will be handled by the kitchen owner/manager or other agreed point of contact. The kitchen manage/owner has agreed as a condition of being part of the Program that it will make its best efforts to accommodate reasonable user requests.
Financial Understandings:
The user agrees to pay the rent due under the Kitchen Lease on time and in advance in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Kitchen Lease unless otherwise agreed between the kitchen owner/manager and the user. All rental payments shall be paid directly to the kitchen’s bank account with an email confirmation (if required) from the user to the kitchen manager and BEDC’s program admin to confirm payment. No cash will be accepted by the kitchen owner/manager.
User/Tenant Program Termination
Nonpayment of Rent:
Where the kitchen owner/manager agrees for the user to pay rent in arrears (i.e. rent paid for the period after kitchen usage) and if the user has more than 6 weeks of rent outstanding at any time then in the event that all oral and written communications have not resolved in relation to the rent non-payment issue, then the BEDC, in consultation with the kitchen owner/manager, has the right to terminate the users participation in the Program. Such user termination shall be effected by notice in writing to the user’s main address and via email. This right to terminate the participation in the Program is in addition to any rights that the kitchen owner/manager has to terminate the Kitchen lease and seek remedies thereunder for non-payment.
Breach of Lease Agreement:
If the user is in breach of the Kitchen Lease agreement, then the kitchen/owner manager will communicate such breaches to the user and needed corrective action in writing copying in BEDC. BEDC will then contact the user to best support the corrective action plan and ensure any corrective timelines are met. If the user has not adequately addressed the corrective action within the timeline specified then the kitchen owner/manager, after consultation with BEDC, has the right to terminate the Kitchen Lease in accordance with its terms. BEDC will then immediately forward a formal notice of Program termination in writing to the user’s main will be done in writing to the user’s main address and via email.
BEDC Communications:
All communications relevant to BEDC in relation to a user’s application for Program acceptance, attempts to secure approval with a kitchen of choice/Dept. of Health and during kitchen tenancy should be sent to Shalini Johnstone and William Spriggs.
Grievance /Mediation Process
In the event that there is a dispute between the kitchen owner/manager and user which cannot be resolved between the parties in good faith within 14 days of the dispute arising, both parties agree to notify BEDC in writing of the fact of the dispute and the matters in contention. Without accepting any liability and on the understanding that it is a neutral party not acting for either party BEDC agrees to assist the parties in resolving the dispute by attending any meetings between the parties, reviewing the facts and any documents supplied by both parties with a view to assisting the parties in reaching a settlement.
Waiver/Indemnity
I/we recognize that BEDC is acting in relation to the Program merely in a supportive capacity in order to introduce users with Kitchen owners/managers in order to facilitate the utilization of underused spaces and I/we hereby release BEDC, their principals, agents, employees, and volunteers from any and all liability, claims, demands, actions or rights of action whatsoever, which are related to, arise out of, or are in any way connected with my/our participation in the Program. This agreement shall be binding upon me, my/our successors, representatives, heirs, executors, assigns, or transferees.
I accept responsibility for all obligations in relation to the Kitchen Lease and under this Agreement and should BEDC, or anyone acting on their behalf, be required to incur attorney’s fees and costs to enforce this Agreement or defend any claim against them made in connection with the Kitchen Lease, I/we agree to reimburse them for such fees and costs. I/we further agree to indemnify and hold harmless BEDC and the kitchen owner/manager in relation to which I/we enter into a Kitchen Lease, their principals, agents, employees, and volunteers from liability for the injury or death of any person(s) and damage to property that may result from my negligent or intentional act or omission while in occupation of the kitchen pursuant to the Kitchen Lease
PLEASE NOTE: All program applications are subject to review by BEDC. Submission of this application does not guarantee application acceptance into the kitchen program.
