Plans to create more than 32,000 jobs globally over a five-year period have been announced by EG Group.
The Blackburn-headquartered company was founded by the billionaire Issa brothers who now also own Asda.
In a statement, the group said its expansion is being "driven by a sustained investment in its successful foodservice business".
In the UK, the group said it will deliver many of the new jobs from rolling out its proprietary brands, Cooplands and LEON, across its forecourt network, new-to-industry sites, and EG foodservice concessions at Asda locations.
It will also create a large number of new jobs by accelerating openings for its existing third-party brand partners, notably Starbucks and KFC, including drive-thrus on the group’s UK forecourts and on Asda carparks.
The Group plans to add about 22,700 UK jobs between January 2022 and December 2026, including new roles at its head office in Blackburn, where it currently employs about 900.
Approximately 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 United States of America over the same five-year period.
Cooplands plans to open 30 outlets a year through 2026, including cafés inside NTIs and convenience stores on EG forecourt sites.
The group said it is also committed to rolling out at least 50 LEON restaurants a year through 2026, primarily in the UK, alongside 10 further openings in the Netherlands, ahead of a wider European expansion.
In a joint statement, Mohsin Issa 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.
"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."
