Founded 2004 | ||
 | ||
Founders Henry Dimbleby, Allegra McEvedy, John Vincent Profiles | ||
How to run a successful business with leon restaurants co founder john vincent
Leon is an upmarket fast food chain based in the United Kingdom.
Contents
History
Leon was founded by John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby (son of David Dimbleby) with chef Allegra McEvedy. The brand was named after Vincent's father, Leon. LEON created their naturally fast food concept and opened their first outlet in Carnaby Street in 2004. Six months after opening, LEON was named the “Best New Restaurant in Great Britain” at The Observer Food Monthly Awards. In March 2009, McEvedy gave up her role at LEON to focus on writing and television work, but remains a shareholder.
Restaurants
As of June 2016, LEON have 36 stores. They will be opening the first LEON outside England in Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, at the beginning of July. They have also announced their first store in Scotland will be opening in Glasgow at the beginning of August.
The Financial Times reported in February 2012 that LEON had hired Brad Blum, former Burger King chief executive, to advise on expansion plans and that they had signed a deal with US-based HMSHost to open their first two franchised outlets in the US. HMSHost operate 6 LEON locations in transport hubs around the UK, including Heathrow Terminal 2, Heathrow Terminal 3, King's Cross Station, Euston Station, Eurotunnel, East Midlands Airport & Stansted Airport. LEON is eyeing a US expansion in 2016. By establishing a growing presence in transport hubs around the UK, the founders are hoping to reach an international audience, and help create demand for LEON ahead of overseas openings.
Cookbooks
As well as running restaurants LEON has produced a series of cookbooks which are marketed in Germany, the UK and the US.
Organisation
Co-founder John Vincent is the CEO of LEON. Co-founder Henry Dimbleby is a founder director of the Sustainable Restaurant Association and co-founder of London Union.
Awards
School Food Plan
In 2013 Leon co-founders John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby were invited to write a report on school meals. The pair instead created a collaboration and co-authored the Government backed School Food Plan, which set out to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food.
John and Henry visited over 60 schools, eating as many school meals as they could and speaking to everyone involved, from headteachers to caterers and - most importantly - the children. They found that, while some of the best schools were great at weaving food education into school life, there was still a lot of work to be done. At the time, 57% of children weren't eating school meals at all, and only 1% of packed lunches met the nutritional standards that apply to school food.
The plan they created contains 17 separate and detailed recommendations on what should be done. As a result of the plan, the government now provides free school lunches to all infants in years Reception, 1 & 2. In addition, practical cooking and nutrition is now part of the National Curriculum for 4-14 year olds, and two major food flagships have been launched across Lambeth and Croydon.
In 2015 John and Henry were awarded MBEs for their work on the School Food Plan.
On 25 November 2015 the government's spending review confirmed that free infant school meals would be safe from national spending cuts.