Weight loss jabs are ‘opportunity’ for Leon, boss says

The increasing popularity of weight loss jabs presents an “opportunity” for the fast-food chain Leon, its boss believes.

John Vincent told the BBC the dishes the brand is serving are the “sort of food people on weight loss jabs want to eat”.

Vincent, an original co-founder of the chain, bought the company back from Asda last year. Last month the firm appointed administrators and announced a major restructuring of its 71 restaurants, which employ 1,000 people.

Speaking to the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast, he also set out his plans to revive the chain, which includes opening more restaurants in service stations, airports and train stations, after closing 20 on the High Street.

Asked if the rise in weight loss jabs posed a challenge to the chain, Vincent told the BBC he thought “there is definitely an opportunity for Leon-type food”, which he said was typically low sugar and flavoured with herbs and spices.

“We are actually seeing the food we enjoy eating at Leon, and we used to enjoy serving and we increasingly enjoy serving now, is actually the sort of food people on weight loss jabs want to eat.”

Helping people on the injections get enough protein and maintain their muscle mass “is just as important as calories I think”, he added.

He agreed the impact of the popular appetite suppressing drugs meant Leon would “definitely” need to think about portion sizes.

Last week, the boss of Greggs said there was “no doubt” the drugs have led to people looking for “smaller portions”, affecting the company’s sales.

Vincent also spoke about the impact of tax rises, which he said were “incredibly toxic” for the hospitality industry.

He said the upcoming rises in business rates along with overall cost increases meant the High Street was no longer as profitable. Leon has been losing £10m a year.

If taxes on businesses increase further, he said, “the only people that are going to survive are those selling… food that’s not very good quality”.

In April, business rates relief for the hospitality sector which came in during Covid will end. At the same time, increases in the rateable value of premises take effect.

The Treasury has indicated it will announce further assistance for pubs in the coming days but has faced a backlash from other hospitality businesses over why they are not included.

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

Vincent said that traditionally, “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 said Leon would close its restaurants outside London, but added the high costs of operating in the capital was making business there “incredibly difficult” with “incredibly high upward-only rents”.

He said even though airports in particular take a large slice of a retailer’s takings, a 2% profit 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 said.

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

The spokesperson said this was in addition to “capping corporation tax at 25%, cutting red tape and taking action on the cost of living to boost high 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 “lost chutzpah, leadership and confidence” after it was sold in 2021, which resulted in “a lack of clarity about what it wants 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 think Leon needs to make sense again,” he said. “We don’t always make sense to people at the moment.”

He plans to bring simplicity back with menu changes this year: “We do have to, as a brand, realise and remember, we were always about the best food for the most people.

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