Leon owner EG Group to create more than 22,000 UK jobs

EG Group has said it will create some 22,700 jobs across the UK over the next five years as it continues its rapid growth.

The petrol forecourt giant, which bought healthy fast food chain Leon and bakery business Cooplands last year, said it is part of plans to create 32,000 jobs globally.

It said most of the new roles will be across its expanding foodservice business.

EG, which is run by Asda owner Mohsin and Zuber Issa, said many of the new roles will delivered through rolling out more Leon and Cooplands sites, as well as opening new food concessions at Asda stores.

Following the takeover of Leon a year ago, EG has outlined plans to open 50 more sites each year through to 2026.

Meanwhile, it also plans to open 30 Cooplands site each year as part of plans to grow the Scarborough bakery business.

It will also create a “large number” of new jobs at new sites for third-party brand partner, including Starbucks and KFC, across its forecourts and Asda car parks.

EG also announced it is increasing its minimum hourly pay to £10.05 for UK workers.

The Issa brothers said: “As EG continues to go from strength to strength, we will be creating a large number of new jobs over the coming years, particularly in our successful foodservice business, which remains a significant growth opportunity globally.

“We are proud to be a business founded in Britain that invests in job creation worldwide, while focusing heavily on the training and development of colleagues.

“EG has a strong track record of providing colleagues with long-term opportunities to progress their career at all levels and we are passionate about continuing this.”