John Vincent wins Person of the Year at the R200 Awards
Leon's co-founder takes the top prize as Restaurant magazine's R200 Awards hand 12 honours to UK multi-site operators, from Hawksmoor to Flat Iron.
John Vincent, the co-founder of Leon, was named Person of the Year at the R200 Awards on 2 November, as Restaurant magazine handed out its annual prizes to 12 UK multi-site restaurant and pub operators.
The ceremony was held at Idalia, a newly opened restaurant inside London's refurbished Olympia venue. Restaurant editor Stefan Chomka said Vincent's award recognised his return to the healthy fast-food chain he founded more than 20 years ago. "A passion for a business never leaves you," Chomka said.
Twelve categories, one night
Twelve prizes, one trade: London's multi-site operators take their turn in the spotlight.
Hawksmoor won International Group of the Year, and Flat Iron took Restaurant Group of the Year for companies with 20 sites or fewer. Mission Mars, which runs Rudy's Pizza and Albert's Schloss, won the equivalent prize for larger groups. The Public House Group was named Food-Led Pub Group of the Year for openings including The Hart and The Horses, and Inception Group won Bar Group of the Year.
Bleecker Burger took QSR Brand of the Year, and Vietnamese chain HOP won Best Scalable Concept. Incipio, the operator behind Olympia's Lillie's, Wolves of Tokyo and Juno, was named Opening of the Year.
New Haven-style pizza brand Lenny's, which grew from a Finsbury Park pub into a Covent Garden site with MJMK, won One to Watch. A separate prize, Innovation of the Year, went to Lenny, a recruitment platform founded by Nell's Pizza co-founder Charlotte Heyes that connects 14 to 17-year-olds with hospitality jobs across Greater Manchester and Salford.
A nod to one big sale
The Ivy Collection's sale earlier this year won the Impact Award, recognising the scale of the deal rather than any single opening. The R200 Awards, now in their third decade, are decided by votes from hospitality professionals rather than a judging panel, a format also used by TheFork Awards in Italy.
This year's winners lean toward operators expanding steadily rather than chasing a single flagship site, a pattern that has defined much of London's restaurant growth amid a year of record openings and closures in the capital.
