{"id":297488,"date":"2025-12-03T22:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T22:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/297488\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T22:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T22:15:09","slug":"major-fast-food-chain-with-70-restaurants-faces-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/297488\/","title":{"rendered":"Major fast food chain with 70 restaurants faces closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leon could be forced to close restaurants and cut jobs as the fast-food chain continues to deal with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Co-founder John Vincent, who recently bought back the business he helped establish, said he is in discussions with property owners about the future of loss-making sites.<\/p>\n

The chain operates more than 70 restaurants across Britain, with Mr Vincent warning unprofitable branches may be forced to shut down for good and jobs axed.<\/p>\n

It also runs 29 franchise locations at transport hubs and airports and employs around 1,120 people.<\/p>\n

Mr Vincent said he intends to reshape the brand following his return to ownership.<\/p>\n

“Then I want to recreate Leon as the Earth’s favourite fast food.<\/p>\n

“Chefs are not in touch with the earth. Understanding the earth is love.”<\/p>\n

Leon, which has traded on British high streets for over twenty years, is entering a period of uncertainty as restructuring plans begin.<\/p>\n

The co-founder reacquired the business in October after it was purchased by the Issa brothers, who also own Asda, for \u00a3100million in 2021.<\/p>\n

The buyback price was reported to be between \u00a330million and \u00a350million.<\/p>\n

\"High<\/p>\n

Leon stores could be at risk of closure<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

The figures indicate a sharp fall in the chain’s valuation since its previous sale.<\/p>\n

Leon’s financial performance has weakened considerably in recent years.<\/p>\n

Revenue fell from \u00a364.9million in 2023 to \u00a362.5million in 2024.<\/p>\n

The business reported a pre-tax loss of \u00a38.38million during the same period.<\/p>\n

The results reflect broader challenges across the hospitality sector as customer spending patterns continue to shift after the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The difference between the 2021 sale price and the more recent repurchase figure shows how the brand\u2019s position changed under its previous ownership.<\/p>\n

\"Rachel<\/p>\n

Rachel Reeves has been accused of damaging businesses<\/p>\n

| GB NEWS<\/p>\n

Mr Vincent has been critical of how the chain was run during the Asda ownership period.<\/p>\n

He attributed the decline to cost-cutting measures that he said damaged sales.<\/p>\n

“They realised that sales are going backwards, so they cut labour or they cut cost of goods. They took the halloumi from a nice bit to a crispy bit to save money. And, guess what? They make less money.”<\/p>\n

He said that reducing product quality to achieve savings weakened the brand’s appeal.<\/p>\n

Mr Vincent said the restaurant industry requires different leadership approaches in order to grow.<\/p>\n

“The accountants take over, whereas we need the Steve Jobses and we need the Elon Musks to be in charge.”<\/p>\n

He said creative direction should guide the company\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n

Mr Vincent maintains that lowering ingredient standards was counterproductive and drove customers away.<\/p>\n

He has set out several changes he plans to introduce as part of the turnaround strategy.<\/p>\n

Menus will be simplified with fewer items, although popular dishes such as the bestselling chicken satay rice box will stay.<\/p>\n

\"Worried<\/p>\n

The news will come as a worry to Leon fans<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Hygiene procedures will be strengthened with managers required to submit daily photographs of cleaning work through a WhatsApp group.<\/p>\n

The future of Leon’s automated ordering systems has not yet been decided.<\/p>\n

“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”, he said.<\/p>\n

His remarks indicate the kiosks may remain depending on customer usage.<\/p>\n

Leon has been approached for comment about the proposed changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leon could be forced to close restaurants and cut jobs as the fast-food chain continues to deal with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,2222,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-297488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-money","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}