The main quick meals chain collapsed into administration in December.
The main quick meals chain collapsed into administration in December (Picture: Getty)
Main quick meals chain Leon has slashed 244 jobs after collapsing into administration in December. The favored restaurant chain, famed for its halloumi burgers and waffle fries, was compelled to close 22 places following the collapse.
Nonetheless, there appears to be no respite on the horizon but, as an replace from directors Quantuma Advisory stated the corporate now has simply 573 employees. It had losses of £12.5million in 2023, £8.3million in 2024, and nearly £10million on draft figures for 2025. The chain had constructed its fame on pure, fast-casual meals. Nonetheless, the corporate has struggled within the wake of being offered for £100million to Asda proprietor, EG Group, in 2021.
On the top of its success, Leon operated 85 eating places throughout the UK and internationally in 2022 (Picture: Getty)
On the top of its success, Leon operated 85 eating places throughout the UK and internationally in 2022. Underneath the Issa brothers, British-Indian billionaire businessmen who based the group, it additionally expanded aggressively into petrol forecourts and Asda grocery store websites.
Its co-founder, John Vincent, purchased the enterprise again from Asda in October final yr. Mr Vincent blamed “more and more unsustainable taxes” but in addition stated Leon had moved away from its “core values”.
“Within the final two years, Asda had greater fish to fry, and Leon was at all times a enterprise they didn’t really feel fitted their technique,” he stated, including that he hoped to be “offering jobs to many extra individuals as soon as we’ve returned to profitability and may proceed to develop once more”.
Leon beforehand stated it will attempt to redeploy employees to different eating places, provide redundancy the place that’s not doable and in addition arrange a route for affected workers to use for jobs at Pret A Manger.
Directors have proposed an organization voluntary settlement (CVA), which is a approach of restructuring meaning a enterprise can proceed buying and selling by negotiating its money owed. Directors have additionally been negotiating with landlords for diminished lease.
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Leon was based in 2004 by John Vincent, Henry Dimbleby, and chef Allegra McEvedy. Their first outlet opened on London’s Carnaby Avenue with a mission to show that “quick meals” did not need to imply “junk meals”. They known as it “naturally quick meals,” specializing in Mediterranean-inspired, seasonal elements. Inside six months, it was named the “Finest New Restaurant in Nice Britain” by The Observer.
The founders had been additionally closely concerned in UK meals coverage, with Mr Dimbleby and Mr Vincent co-authoring the Authorities’s College Meals Plan in 2013 to enhance kids’s diets.
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