Pret a Manger to cut 2,800 jobs

Pret a Manger has confirmed it is to cut 2,800 high street jobs as part of a restructuring following almost two months of consultations with team members.

The high street chain said that although sales and footfall have started to show “clear signs of recovery”, Pret sales over the last month stand at where they were around 10 years ago, when the business was “considerably smaller.

Trade across its UK shops remains around 60% down year on year, with weekly sales for Pret UK averaging around £5m.

Alongside the reductions in shops, it also confirmed a further 90 roles have been reduced in Pret’s Support Centre teams.

It added the reduction in roles is a reflection of “shorter opening hours, lower transaction levels, and the losses faced by the business in 2020”.

It revealed a further 1,000 roles have been preserved after thousands of its staff agreed to move to a lower level of minimum weekly hours. Pret added the hours will be “continuously reviewed” to reflect levels of sales and footfall during the remainder of 2020 and early 2021.

Pret’s CEO, Pano Christou, said: “I’m gutted that we’ve had to lose so many colleagues. Although we’re now starting to see a steady but slow recovery, the pandemic has taken away almost a decade of growth at Pret.

“We’ve managed to protect many jobs by making changes to the way we run our shops and the hours we ask Team Members to work. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to review all these changes now that trade is improving again, and I’m encouraged by the improvements we’re seeing every week.”

He added: “We’ll soon be announcing a number of big changes to help bring Pret to more people. We’re grateful to the Government for the support they’ve given our sector, and hope that support will continue as long as possible to give Pret time to adjust.”