Leon will give attention to stations and airports to revive fortunes, boss says | EUROtoday

Fast-food chain Leon will open extra eating places in service stations, airports and practice stations, after it closes 20 on the High Street, its boss has mentioned.

John Vincent mentioned the upcoming rises in enterprise charges together with total value will increase means the High Street is now not as worthwhile. Leon has been shedding £10m a 12 months.

Vincent, an unique co-founder of the chain, purchased the corporate again from Asda final 12 months. But final month the agency appointed directors and introduced a significant restructuring of its 71 eating places, which make use of 1,000 folks.

The authorities says it’s backing hospitality companies with a assist package deal to restrict invoice rises.

Vincent informed the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast tax rises had been “incredibly toxic” for the hospitality trade.

If taxes on companies improve additional, he mentioned, “the only people that are going to survive are those selling… food that’s not very good quality”.

In April, enterprise charges aid for the hospitality sector which got here in throughout Covid will finish. At the identical time, will increase within the rateable worth of premises take impact.

The Treasury has indicated it is going to announce additional help for pubs within the coming days however has confronted a backlash from different hospitality companies over why they don’t seem to be included.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves informed a press convention on Wednesday she was “working with the hospitality sector”.

Vincent mentioned that historically, “the more fast food units you have, the better the operations, the better the supply chain, the better you can buy, the better your systems can be”.

However, he added: “I’m not sure this is true anymore because of pressure on the market.”

Vincent mentioned Leon would shut its eating places exterior London, however added the excessive prices of working within the capital was making enterprise there “incredibly difficult” with “incredibly high upward-only rents”.

He mentioned regardless that airports specifically take a big slice of a retailer’s takings, a 2% revenue margin there “is worth the same as a 6% on the High Street”.

“You might be doing two or three times the revenue in that airport than you might in a High Street location,” Vincent mentioned

Responding to Vincent’s feedback, a Treasury spokesperson mentioned: “We’re backing hospitality businesses with a £4.3bn support package to limit bill rises.

The spokesperson said this was in addition to “capping company tax at 25%, slicing crimson tape and taking motion on the price of residing to spice up excessive streets”.

Aside from rising costs, Vincent feels Leon is struggling because it has drifted from its original mission of good-quality fast food for the masses.

The menu started out simple: meatballs, a superfood salad and tapas – relatively healthy offerings at a time when fast food was dominated by burgers, fried chicken and kebabs, Vincent said.

But Leon “misplaced chutzpah, management and confidence” after it was sold in 2021, which resulted in “a scarcity of readability about what it desires the menu to be”, he said.

He has previously said he sympathises with the company’s previous owners, because of the challenges that restaurants have faced since the pandemic.

“I believe Leon must make sense once more,” he said. “We do not all the time make sense to folks in the intervening time.”

He plans to bring simplicity back with menu changes this year: “We do should, as a model, realise and keep in mind, we had been all the time about one of the best meals for the most individuals.

“We were not about posh fast food for posh people. That was never our intention.”