Why would someone sell a business for a reported 9-figures… and then buy the same business back in one of the toughest markets imaginable?

John Vincent is the co-founder of LEON Restaurants, bestselling author of Winning Not Fighting, and one of the most original thinkers in British business.

He explains:

▪️Why he felt he had to buy LEON back

▪️Why most businesses get purpose completely wrong

▪️How rising rents, VAT, National Insurance and the government are crushing hospitality

▪️Why chasing money as the main goal often makes businesses worse

▪️How LEON was built to prove that business can be based on love, purpose and profit

▪️Why the UK High Street is being damaged by policy, not just market conditions

▪️How founders should think about money, mission, control and long-term value

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SHOW HERE https://buildingthebrand.co.uk

KEY MOMENTS:

0:00 Buying LEON back

01:12 “Petrified and excited” at the same time

03:30 From idea to execution of the buy-back deal in under a year

04:39 Why John doesn’t believe in combative negotiation

06:40 Why he fully walked away after selling

08:49 The moment he realised LEON wasn’t right

11:03 Why owning less than 50% means you don’t own the business

12:07 The equity mistakes he made early on

15:49 Why hospitality is such a capital-intensive business

17:32 From Bain to building LEON

21:26 “McDonald’s in heaven” - the original LEON vision

23:14 Why restaurant rents have become unsustainable

25:28 Why John believes the government is killing hospitality

27:15 “I had to do it” - why he bought LEON back

35:08 Why he believes business should start with love

42:31 Why life is not a journey or destination

44:49 How purpose and profit can coexist

48:45 Why John thinks of money like water

52:27 The externalities LEON actually cares about

54:20 Can you do the right thing and still make money?

52:27 The externalities LEON actually cares about

55:07 Can you do the right thing and still make money?

55:21 Where John’s worldview comes from

1:05:28 Why founder-led, purpose-driven businesses matter more than ever

1:06:05 How to build real purpose into a business from day one

1:12:10 What happened immediately after the deal was done

1:14:16 The secret pre-deal planning and day-one execution

1:16:06 Rebuilding the leadership team around LEON

1:30:11 The three biggest policy levers UK government should usethat could help hospitality fast

1:34:03 The family sacrifices behind building - and buying back - LEON

1:36:26 Why having honest people around you matters

1:43:31 The influence of John’s mum, mindset and personal belief system

1:45:15 John’s self-awareness, anger, and where he feels he still falls short

Follow John: 

https://leon.co/

https://www.instagram.com/johnv_leon

Read John's Book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/John-Vincent/author/B00I50RNPW?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Why would someone sell a business for a reported 9-figures… and then buy the same business back in one of the toughest markets imaginable?

John Vincent, co-founder of LEON Restaurants, bestselling author of Winning Not Fighting, and one of the most original thinkers in British business tells us all.

FULL EPISODE OUT NOW

Building The Brand is a Top 50 business podcast for people who don’t just want success stories - they want to understand how success is actually built.

Hosted by James Burtt, each episode features in-depth conversations with entrepreneurs, founders, and creators behind standout brands. This isn’t surface-level storytelling. It’s about the thinking, decisions, and trade-offs that drive real growth.

Past and upcoming guests include world-renowned business and entrepreneurial creative figures Gary Brecka, Rob Moore, Grant Cardone, John Vincent,Joe Foster, Mark Victor Hansen Thomas Hal Robson-Kanu and John Lee Dumas.

Not 'how to'. This is how you.

Why would you sell your brand for 9-figures and then buy that same business back... stepping back into the firing line of one of the most difficult business sectors right now?

Building The Brand is relaunching at 10am on Wednesday 25th March 2026 with the incredible John Vincent, CEO of LEON Restaurants.

Relaunching at the end of Feb 2026, building the brand is back.

Hosted by multiple iTunes Top 10 podcaster James Burtt, Building The Brand is in-depth conversations with the entrepreneurs, founders, marketing and brand experts, PR specialists, CEO’s and CMO’s who have built some of the country's most successful companies and brands.

If you are looking to explode your brand using the power of audio, contact James’ agency Phonic Content.

On today’s show, James discusses Momentum; how to build it and how to be aware of what it looks like when you do NOT have it! 

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If you enjoyed this episode, connect with James and let him know your No.1 takeaway  https://www.instagram.com/jamesburttofficial/

If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner that is interested in blowing up your brand using the power of audio, check out Phonic Content - the team that makes this very podcast - https://www.phonic.media/

Hosted by multiple iTunes Top 10 podcaster James Burtt, Building The Brand is in-depth conversations with the entrepreneurs, founders, marketing and brand experts, PR specialists, CEO’s and CMO’s who have built some of the country's most successful companies and brands.

If you are looking to explode your brand using the power of audio, contact James’ agency Phonic Content.

On today’s show, James discusses why he is launching a brand-new podcast Business Marriage and how he is using this new show to test and measure new marketing tactics and promotional strategies.

Check out the new show via https://tinyurl.com/businessmarriagepod and make sure you hit the follow button wherever you tune in. 

———————————————

If you enjoyed this episode, connect with James and let him know your No.1 takeaway  https://www.instagram.com/jamesburttofficial/

If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner that is interested in blowing up your brand using the power of audio, check out Phonic Content - the team that makes this very podcast - https://www.phonic.

Hosted by multiple iTunes Top 10 podcaster James Burtt, Building The Brand is in-depth conversations with the entrepreneurs, founders, marketing and brand experts, PR specialists, CEO’s and CMO’s who have built some of the country's most successful companies and brands.

If you are looking to explode your brand using the power of audio, contact James’ agency Phonic Content.

On today’s show, James discusses why he is launching a brand-new podcast Business Marriage and how he is using this new show to test and measure new marketing tactics and promotional strategies.

Check out the new show via https://tinyurl.com/businessmarriagepod and make sure you hit the follow button wherever you tune in. 

———————————————

If you enjoyed this episode, connect with James and let him know your No.1 takeaway  https://www.instagram.com/jamesburttofficial/

If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner that is interested in blowing up your brand using the power of audio, check out Phonic Content - the team that makes this very podcast - https://www.phonic.

Hosted by multiple iTunes Top 10 podcaster James Burtt, Building The Brand is in-depth conversations with the entrepreneurs, founders, marketing and brand experts, PR specialists, CEO’s and CMO’s who have built some of the country's most successful companies and brands.

If you are looking to explode your brand using the power of audio, contact James’ agency Phonic Content.

On today’s show, James chats to Professor Damian Hughes, an international speaker, best-selling author, and co-host of "The High Performance Podcast". They discuss Damian's experiences of feeling like a "fish out of water" and how he navigated through it. He shared his advice for dealing with bullies and bullying and talked about the impact they had on his life. 

Damian also discusses the turning point in his career and how it impacted his future direction. He also shares what made him start "The High Performance Podcast" and what sets it apart from other podcasts in the same genre.

In this episode you will hear:

• Damian’s early life and career
• What encouraged him to develop high performers
• The turning point in Damian’s career
• Why he started The High Performance Podcast
• What makes The High Performance Podcast the best in its genre

https://liquidthinker.com/

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If you enjoyed this episode, connect with James and let him know your No.1 takeaway  https://www.instagram.com/jamesburttofficial/

If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner that is interested in blowing up your brand using the power of audio, check out Phonic Content - the team that makes this very podcast - https://www.phonic.media/

Hosted by multiple iTunes Top 10 podcaster James Burtt https://www.instagram.com/jamesburttofficial/, Building The Brand is in-depth conversations with the entrepreneurs, founders, marketing and brand experts, PR specialists, CEO’s and CMO’s who have built some of the countries most successful companies and brands.

On today’s show, James chats to John Lee Dumas - a hugely successful podcaster and the creator of Entrepreneurs On Fire, which has now done 3000 plus episodes, with 100 million listens to date and over 1.4 million monthly listens currently. JLD has just released his book, ‘The Common Path To Uncommon Success’, which is a revolutionary 17-step guide roadmap for you to get to financial freedom and fulfillment, which provides a proven path for entrepreneurs like you to achieve the financial, location, and lifestyle freedom you are capable of. 

In this episode you will hear: 

• John's story of going from quitting job after job to one of the top podcasters in the world 
• The critical steps successful entrepreneurs take to achieve uncommon success 
• How to properly focus on your vision of success until it becomes your reality 
• How can someone be a person of value? 
• How to achieve a work-life balance and enjoy life 
• What success meant to JLD and what it now means 

Connect with John https://www.instagram.com/johnleedumas

GRAB THE BOOK https://bit.ly/uncommonsuccessbook

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Connect with James https://www.instagram.com/jamesburttofficial/