19/10/2026
Park Café owners hang up the oven gloves!
Swanley Town Council is saying a huge thank you to brothers İsmet and Bülent “Tony” Levent of IBL Catering Ltd, and their business partners and wives Canan “Jan” and Gülen “Lesley”, as they prepare to hang up their oven gloves after 15 years serving visitors at Swanley Park.
The family have been a much-loved part of Swanley Park for a decade and a half, having operated the Park Café and separate ice cream concession through a period of significant change and investment.
During their time at the Park, İsmet and Tony have seen the Café develop from a small facility with a limited menu to a transformed space with new kitchen and serving areas. The Café also expanded its menu and began looking towards providing a more year-round service.
Their time at Swanley Park has spanned three different eras of its management. When they took over the food and beverage concession within the Park, the parks leisure activities were privately managed by Weston Leisure, followed by Can You Experience, before Swanley Town Council, as the landowner, took the Park into direct management around ten years ago.
Those ten years have seen an extraordinary programme of investment and development at Swanley Park, including commercial pedalos on the lake, new inflatable attractions, the rebuilding and expansion of the Water Park, the launch of the Barnyard soft play adventure, the construction of the Dawn to Dusk Nursery, the Acres Dog Exercise Area, the Awe and Wonder outdoor play area, the Plunge Waterslide, battery bikes, new public toilets and many other behind the scenes improvements.
The Café were also present during the challenges brought on through the global pandemic, and more recently have worked extremely hard to keep costs down despite the cost pressures now placed on small businesses. Throughout all of that change, they have remained a constant presence. Importantly, the retirement of the brothers will not cause disruption to visitors, with the Café continuing to operate as normal.
Swanley Town Council CEO Ryan Hayman said:
“There really aren't enough words to properly thank İsmet, Tony, Jan and Lesley for everything they have contributed to Swanley Park over the last 15 years. I have been fortunate enough to work with them extremely closely over many of those years. I was Parks Director between 2017 and 2020, before becoming CEO, and I have always hugely valued the relationship we have built since. We have been through an incredible period of change together. They have not simply been the people who ran the Café; they have been part of the fabric of Swanley Park. They have adapted as the Park has grown, invested in their business, supported events and, most importantly, looked after our visitors. There have been plenty of conversations, challenges, ideas and probably a few debates along the way, but always with the shared objective of making Swanley Park better. On behalf of Swanley Town Council, I want to give them the biggest possible thank you. We will miss having them around the Park enormously, but we wish İsmet, Tony, Jan and Lesley every happiness as they begin this next chapter.”
Swanley Town Council Parks and Open Spaces Manager George Brooker added:
“I have known IBL catering for a very long time, over half of my life. My connection with Swanley Park actually goes back to my days volunteering on the Swanley New Barn Railway, long before I became Parks and Open Spaces Manager. Over the past 16 years working at the Park, I have seen just how much İsmet, Tony, Jan and Lesley have put into the Café and into the Park itself. They have been here through an enormous amount of change and have always been willing to work with us to help make things happen. They have become part of the Park family, and their presence will certainly be missed. Without their incredible dedication, hard work, and passion we wouldn’t have the Swanley Park we love and recognise today. I would like to thank them personally for all their hard work, for their friendship, their commitment, guidance, and their support over the past 15 years.”
İsmet Lavent formerly of IBL Catering concluded:
“It is very sad for us to be retiring after 15 years at Swanley Park. This place has been a very big part of our lives, and we have met so many wonderful people along the way. We are very grateful for everything Swanley Town Council has done for us and for the support we have received over the years. In particular, we would like to thank Ryan and George for everything they have done and for the relationship we have had with them. We have seen the Park change so much and it has been wonderful to be part of that journey. We are proud of what we have achieved with the Café, and we will always have very special memories of Swanley Park. It is not easy to say goodbye, but we know we are leaving with many happy memories, and we wish the Park, the Council and everyone who visits it all the very best for the future.”
Swanley Town Council would like to place on record its deepest thanks to İsmet, Bülent, Canan and Gülen for 15 years of hard work, investment, friendship, and service to Swanley Park and its visitors. While one chapter comes to an end, the Café will continue to operate under new management, ensuring that visitors can still enjoy refreshments during their time at the Park.
