A popular UK restaurant chain could be set to see stores close after posting losses of mroe than £8million. John Vincent, who founded Leon in 2004 and recently bought back the business from EG, told the Sunday Times that some unprofitable sites might have to close as he bids to turn around the company’s fortunes.
The businessman also admitted that headcount might have to be reduced as he implements a series of changes to reform the company. Leon has been run by Asda for the last two years who itself has seen billions of pounds of debt pile up following its £6.8billion acquisition by the Issas and private equity group TDR in 2021. Throughout this time, the restaurant chain has lost millions of pounds, with critics accusing it of moving away from the principles that made it so successful under Vincent’s initial leadership.
Sales across its sites fell from £64.9million in 2023 to £62.5million in 2024, equating to a pre-tax loss of over £8 million.
Vincent told the Sunday Times: “Leon’s decline has only really accelerated when it became an orphan child going from EG to Asda.
“Asda didn’t want it; they’ve got their own challenges. Leon was like, ‘Oh f***ing hell, that Leon thing’.”
Vincent hopes to take the brand back to the core principles with a menu shake up planned and an uncertain future for the site’s self-service machines, which Vincent believes restrict interactions between customers and staff.
Discussing the future for the machines, Vincent said: “My instinct was to lose them, and I may well do, but I have found some customers don’t want to talk to a human. So I am mulling over that little conundrum”.
As part of the chain’s resurgence, Vincent says that rents will need to be renegotiated with landlords, with unprofitable sites potentially looking to close.
As a result, some jobs might also be lost, Vincent admitted.
Posting on LinkedIn, the entrepreneur said: “Together with passionate team members, chefs, friends and health pioneers (who you can meet on my podcast), I am working to give you the earth’s favourite fast food.
“There will be challenges, magic moments, herbs and spices.
“I want to do this in plain sight. And so I will be sharing updates, blogs and videos as we do this.
“Whilst there’s a lot of expertise within LEON, there are 8 Billion people not in LEON. So we are totally open to ideas from the outside. Please do get in touch with yours.”
Leon has been approached for comment.
Source link
