Leon has named Beth Emmens as its new head of acquisitions following the departure of Adam Blaker as property director.

Emmens has worked at Leon for the past nine years, the last seven of which have been as property acquisitions manager. She will look after all new UK site acquisitions for Leon within its core estate.

Blaker leaves the company after seven years heading up the property division for the healthy food to go brand.

Emmens has worked alongside Blaker on growing the Leon estate to 70 sites and expanding the business outside London to regional locations including Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester and Oxford.

A number of new site are due to open autumn, including Kings Road, Camden and Leon’s first drive thru in Gildersome, West Yorkshire, along with a new travel hub concept at Asda’s new premium convenience store in Holtspur – which has just opened in partnership with owner EG Group.

Glenn Edwards, managing director, Leon: “Beth has been a loved member of the Leon family for many years now, having worked alongside Adam Blaker to secure many of our most successful properties. She is a natural fit to take the lead as head of acquisitions, continuing Adam’s legacy making LEON even more accessible throughout the UK.”

Emmens added: “I’m delighted to get back to looking for great new sites and bringing our naturally fast food to more people in London and across the UK. We are currently in construction on Kings Road, in Camden and Kingston in London and I’m working closely with the EG team on regional acquisitions to accelerate our growth outside of London, where there is a huge opportunity for us.”

Topics