The 2,000 sq ft Drive-Thru will be the first of its kind for the Leon brand and the fourth Leon restaurant to open in West Yorkshire, UK.
The restaurant will have over 50 covers and is set to open this autumn. It will be the first new opening for the brand since its sale to EG Group in April. The new site will create 30 new jobs for the area and a recruitment drive is about to start for all positions from the kitchen to management.
Leon said the new restaurant will continue its mission to bring "naturally fast food" to as many people as possible. It hopes the expansion into Drive-Thru will make it easier for more people to eat well and therefore live well, especially if they're on the move.
The eco-friendly restaurant will be supplied with power from a 100 per cent renewable energy source. It will have solar panels on the roof which will further reduce energy consumption and, post-launch, it is planning to install a wind turbine that will generate more sustainable power.
There will also be electric vehicle charging and bike racks to encourage cyclists. Product innovations and exclusive menu developments will also be unveiled at the West Yorkshire site with a focus on family eating and an expanded children’s menu.
Guests will also find Leon favourites such as Carbon Neutral Burgers, Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets, Grilled Wraps, breakfast and lunchtime meal deals and the recently launched Organic Coffee subscription.
To enable a streamlined service, this will be a digital-first restaurant with kiosks for digital ordering and payments which will include shopper recognition technology to seamlessly recognise kiosk orders that are placed by existing customers already signed up to the Leon Smart Order online ordering platform.
In partnership with EG Group, this is the first of many planned Drive-Thru openings and the start of a focused and accelerated UK expansion, with additional locations already identified. Nick Ayerst, managing director at Leon, said: “This is a significant milestone for Leon.
"We've been discussing the first Leon Drive-Thru with EG Group for five years now and we're excited to open in West Yorkshire later this year. "We have three other Leons in the surrounding area and we’ve received such a warm welcome from locals, who tell us they love our naturally fast food.
"We receive lots of emails and tweets every week asking us to open even more restaurants in the North and we hope this opening signifies that there are many more to come.”
Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa, co-founders and co-CEOs at EG Group, said: “This is the first of many new, strategic openings for the Leon brand under EG ownership. "Opening a Leon Drive-Thru concept is a landmark moment for the brand, creating a fantastic opportunity to bring Leon’s naturally fast food to even more people.
"Our investment in Leon, together with our unparalleled operational experience of Drive-Thrus and access to high-quality roadside locations through our forecourts, creates new opportunities for the company and a strong platform to deliver significant growth.”
Asda's takeover by the Issa brothers was given the green light by the competition watchdog last month after the brothers agreed to sell 27 EG Group petrol forecourts.
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