In a video posted on LinkedIn, Vincent said that he believed that people had lost confidence in the brand he co founded with Henry Dimbleby and Allegra McEvedy in 2004 and that he was making steps to address this.
“Leon was built on this idea of the good life, and the idea there is no compromise between what is good, fun, sexy, cool and what is good for people and the planet,” he says.
The video comes weeks after Vincent bought the business back, four years after selling it to billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, owners of petrol forecourt empire EG Group, for £100m in 2021.
Speaking at the time of the purchase he said: “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.”
In it, he says: “Two weeks ago, I bought back Leon. What do I see now? I see a whole bunch of people that want to win but who’ve lost confidence and who are fearful. I think we’ve lost our leadership in food.
“I think there’s no big welcome, customers aren’t engaging with each other and they’re certainly not engaging with the team. We’ve even gone to [using] royalty-free music, so that’s got to change.”
A change of culture
Vincent says that he is going to introduce a number of changes within the healthy fast food chain.
“Clearly, I’ve got to transform the menu. I’ve got to create a very action-focused culture. I’ve got to make the joyful, everyday routines more fun.
“We want to give people hope and make our sector, make our high streets, make our capital city and make our country more based on love and less based on fear, all based on this idea of the good life.”
Leon currently operates 71 restaurants, including 44 owned and 22 franchised sites.
Vincent says he will be transparent about his plans to overhaul the brand and would be posting updates, blogs and videos throughout the process.