Woolwich market cafe built as part of £24m town project to open May 2026
A pavilion built beside Beresford Square market in Woolwich is set to open in May 2026 according to Greenwich Council.
A meeting this week saw a question asked of what was happening following the announcement of an occupant around five months ago.
In autumn 2025 Bob’s Your Uncle was announced as the business set to move in. In response the council said there had been issues:
“Approvals have taken longer than anticipated but the council have now completed procurement of both the cafe operator (approved October 2025) and the contractor Woodnut Construction who were appointed in January to carry out the cafe fit out works, works commenced in February and are expected to complete at the end of April, due to material availability.
“The Council are working closely with the contractor and Bobs Your Uncle who will occupy the cafe as soon as the works are complete anticipated to be in early May 2026.”
The building replaced a former toilet block and includes replacement toilets and a cafe. It’s part of a wider Woolwich town centre project £24 million was spent in a number of areas, with the two main funds coming from the Future High Streets fund and Heritage England project.
It saw the entirety of Beresford Square rebuilt with a fountain and planting, with market stalls now located on one side of the square.
The Royal Arsenal Gatehouse saw its central gates opened but a planned gallery was dropped.
Powis Street
Powis Street saw new paving and landscaping for much of its length up to the where it meets Hare Street. It’s not been well looked after since completion with broken street furniture and poor levels of cleaning.
Greenwich havn’t yet really pushed for a Business Improvement District which can utilise funds to keep on top of recent work.
It’s a key tool many council have pushed in town centres during a time of constrained funding.
It’s often usedin town centres for deep cleaning and jet washing surfaces, planting and maintaining greenery, events and much more.
However where Powis Street is still in decent shape it’s looking very good.
Side streets are still in poor nick haviong never been well maintained for years which offered a glimpse into what would happen on Powis Street.
Shop fronts in parts of the town also saw restoration with a number now greatly improved.
Despite hiccups the town is moving in the right direction. Gaining BID status really could help things looking far better if Greenwich push for it.
Looking forward to supporting a new local business. The building looks great! With this finally opening, the Old Gunpit restoration and Poundstretcher being developed the approach to Woolwich centre could look great – and fair play to the planning teams who have enabled this.
If only TfL, Greenwich Council and the local MP (who happens to also be the Housing Minister) could find some time in their busy diaries to sort out the eyesore that is the DLR development site.
I get it’s technically difficult with the tunnels and substations nearby, but that’s no excuse for coming out of a station and seeing what looks like an overgrown bomb site opposite.
Yep it’s getting better.
As for the DLR sites it shouldn’t be that difficult. The station box and other plots were always designed around future development. The 2009/2010 proposals worked well within the site. Just a shame it was another failed public private partnership with the private partner letting the side down again.
Let’s admit it: this is great news!
I can almost taste the anticipation. Forget your pumpkin-spiced lattes from the multi national chain across the road, this is beautiful Woolwich!
I hear Bob’s Your Uncle will be launching an exclusive, limited-edition springtime beverage to commemorate the occasion:
The “Drumstick Delight” Flat White.
It’s the perfect fusion for a project of this magnitude. Imagine the velvety smoothness of a hard-won, council-approved flat white, infused with the smoky, savory essence of a late-night, the-day-before-post-pub fried chicken drumstick, a true taste of Woolwich’s thriving street food scene. I can’t wait!
Whoever designed the cafe had obviously never a retail outlet. No provision for a proper sign to show the purpose. Woolwich Waves has a competitive cafe.
Three public toilet blocks were demolished in Woolwich for development. The replacement behind the cafe is far too small. One WC and a small urinal in the gents. I assume 2 WCs in the ladies.
How is that supposed to cope with public events in Beresford Square?