Leon to open 50 more sites by 2020
Fast-food chain Leon is set to open 50 new stores over the next four years after completing a £19m funding deal.
Financing from entrepreneurial bank OakNorth will fund the chain's expansion plans. Leon launched in 2004 and now has 37 stores across the UK, doubling its number of stores in the last two years. Last month it opened its first overseas store in Amsterdam, and will be opening a second site in at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in February 2017. However, the funding will mainly be for new UK sites, according to a Leon spokesperson.
Law firm Reed Smith advised OakNorth Bank on the deal.
John Vincent, co-founder of Leon, said: "We are so happy that people across the country ask us to bring Leon to their towns and cities, and that we have 700 young people working with us who want to grow and progress. This significant amount of money makes it possible for us to achieve both these things, and takes us a step closer to achieving our aim of making it easy for everyone to eat and live well."
Rishi Khosla, co-founder and chief executive of OakNorth, added: "We're delighted to be supporting Leon in its next phase of growth."
Leon to open second overseas site >>
