EG Group global expansion to create 32,000 jobs

The Blackburn-based EG Group has unveiled a five-year expansion plan which will create 32,000 jobs around the world.

In the UK, the group will add some of the brands it owns, including baker chain Cooplands and natural fast food chain LEON, to its forecourt network, EG foodservice concessions at Asda locations and will open other new sites.

The group also plans to accelerate the opening of new sites with its third-party brand partners, including Starbucks and KFC, including drive-thrus on the group’s UK forecourts and on Asda car parks.

Almost 23,000 of the total jobs will be based in the UK, including new roles at its Lancashire headquarters where it currently employs about 900.

The roles will include apprenticeships, with its first cohort of 33 apprentices graduating in September 2021 and a further 200 apprentices currently working across the group.

Around 9,700 new jobs will also come from organic growth in EG’s nine additional markets: Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Australia and the USA.

The announcement follows the publication of EG Group’s unaudited FY21 results in March, when the group reported a 16.3 per cent increase in adjusted EBITDA to $1.451bn.

Mohsin Issa CBE and Zuber Issa CBE, 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.

"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."