Leon says it will close restaurants and cut jobs as administrators called in, who is co-founder John Vincent?

In October 2025 UK fast food chain co-founder John Vincent bought back Leon. He said at the time that “Today I have bought back Leon. For 17 years, it was the greatest gift to build a company dedicated to helping people enjoy Naturally Fast Food. My time away from Leon has given me new perspectives – and I’m excited by what we can achieve for people this time round. There will likely be some big decisions ahead, but first we need to take a good look under the bonnet.

“First and foremost, we have to focus on the basic Leon promise of the best fast food served with the biggest welcome. If you are a Leon guest, I want you to know we are on the case. We will now get on with dedicating ourselves to your enjoyment and to your health.

“I would like to thank Asda and TDR for their stewardship of Leon and for their conduct in this deal. TDR have a strong track record of supporting food and beverage businesses in the UK and have been a pleasure to engage with during this process.”

On December 10, UK fast food chain Leon said it plans to close some of its restaurants and cut jobs after appointing administrators. John Vincent said: “Today for every pound we receive from the customer, around 36p goes to the government in tax, and about 2p ends up in the hands of the company. It’s why most players are reporting big losses.

“The immediate priority is to close the most unprofitable restaurants. In many cases we have found other brands to replace us, and in others we will be asking the landlords to take the leases back and find better suited operators themselves.

“We will rebuild Leon on its core values and I hope to be providing jobs to many more people once we have returned to profitability and can continue to grow again.”

Who is John Vincent married to?

John Vincent is married to broadcaster and journalist Katie Derham. The couple live in West Sussex and share two daughters, two daughters, Natasha and Eleanor. In September 2024 Katie took to Instagram to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary and wrote: “Silver wedding today .. what a day that was! 25 years @johnv_leon … love you xxxx ❤️.” Gareth Jones wrote: “Johnny is definitely punching above his weight if I was him I would keeping myself in shape if he wants to celebrate 50 years together.”