EG Group, the forecourt operator run by the owners of Asda (Issa brothers and TDR Capital) have revealed plans to create over 32,000 jobs globally over five years.
The group expects to add about 22,700 jobs in the UK between January 2022 and December 2026 and about 9,700 in its nine other markets – the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Australia.
In the UK, many of the jobs will come from rolling out its bakery chain Cooplands and its healthy fast-food brand Leon across EG’s petrol forecourt network, and from opening more EG foodservice concessions in Asda supermarkets.
After acquiring Cooplands last year, EG plans to open 30 outlets a year through 2026. It has committed to rolling out at least 50 Leon restaurants a year, primarily in the UK, alongside 10 further openings in the Netherlands, ahead of a wider European expansion.
It stated that new jobs will also be created from accelerating openings at existing third-party brand partners, notably Starbucks and KFC, including drive-thrus on the group’s forecourts in the UK and in Asda carparks.
In a joint statement, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, co-founders and co-CEOs of EG Group, 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.”
EG Group currently operates over 6,300 sites, employing more than 50,000 people. Last year, it was linked with a possible IPO or a trade sale.
