The restaurant in Gateway House, on Station Approach, appears to have now been boarded up, and is listed as ‘permanently closed’ on Google
20:45, 10 Dec 2025Updated 22:25, 10 Dec 2025
The restaurant in Gateway House, on Station Approach, appears to have now been boarded up(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A LEON restaurant near Manchester Piccadilly Station was suddenly boarded up on Wednesday (December 10) following the announcement of a major restructure of the high-street chain.
The company said it plans to close some of its restaurants and cut an unknown number of jobs after applying for an administration order, announced on Wednesday. The store outside Manchester Piccadilly first opened some eight years ago, in 2017.
LEON, founded in 2004 by John Vincent, Henry Dimbleby and Allegra McEvedy, has revealed that restaurants no longer making a profit will be the first to close. The fast food chain said it will cut jobs as a result, as its boss criticised the hospitality industry’s ‘unsustainable’ tax burden.
According to the fast food chain, until further announcements are made, LEON restaurants are set to remain open, serving customers as usual, according to the fast-food chain. However, the restaurant in Gateway House, on Station Approach, appears to have now been boarded up, and is listed as ‘permanently closed’ on Google.
The LEON restaurant has been boarded up outside Manchester Piccadilly(Image: Manchester Evening News)
LEON has admitted that the restructuring will involve the closure of several of LEON’s restaurants and a number of job losses. But the company has created a programme to support anyone made redundant. The chain runs 44 company-owned restaurants and has 22 franchised restaurants.
The company has since confirmed that seven restaurants have closed in the last two weeks, including the Manchester Piccadilly restaurant.
Co-founder John Vincent has said that the struggle can be put down to internal challenges, changing work patterns brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and tax increases. LEON was acquired by Asda in 2023, and Mr Vincent has commented on this.
Mr Vincent said: “In the last two years, Asda had bigger fish to fry, and Leon was always a business they didn’t feel fitted their strategy. If you look at the performance of LEON’s peers, you will see that everyone is facing challenges – companies are reporting significant losses due to working patterns and increasingly unsustainable taxes.”
LEON has announced the major change with restaurants due to close(Image: STEVE ALLEN)
Quantuma has been appointed as the administrators for LEON, and they plan to spend the next few weeks discussing the plans with its landlords and laying out options for the future of the Company. LEON then plans to emerge from administration as a leaner business that can return to its founding values and principles more easily.
Mr Vincent explained: “In the first instance, we will look to find people roles in other LEON restaurants. Where that is not possible, for example if there is no Leon restaurant within commuting distance, people will receive redundancy payments.
“In addition we have established a programme with Pret A Manger where affected LEON employees can apply for jobs via a dedicated channel. I would like to thank the Pret CEO Pano Christou for supporting us and our team at this important time.”
Quantuma said: “We are looking forward to working with the LEON team to deliver the optimal outcome for all stakeholders of the business, the creditors, suppliers and employees of the Company. LEON is obviously a much loved and cherished member of the retail food community as we have already had very positive support from its supplier base and many of its landlords.”