Pret reports revenue growth of 230% for first half of 2022

Pret A Manger has today announced its half year revenue for 2022 reached £357.8m, growing by 230% compared to the same period in 2021 (£155.4m), and up by 160% from 2020 (£223.4m).

UK sales growth outside London outstripped growth in the capital, both on a like-for-like basis and in total revenue, reflecting the sustained growth of Pret’s regional shop estate as well as the impact of new shop openings in Brentwood, Harrogate, Leeds and York. 66% of Pret’s UK shop portfolio is outside of the Square Mile, with 36% of UK shops located in regional cities and towns.

Boosted by the accelerating rate of sales growth across the UK, Pret has been generating cash since March and went operationally cash flow positive from May. The results come as Pret filed its 2021 accounts to Companies House, with revenue for 2021 up 17%, from £392.9m to £461.5m. Pret’s operating loss for the year was £225.9m, down from £343m in 2020.

In September last year, Pret announced a medium-term growth target to double the size of its business within five years, as well as expanding into five new markets by the end of 2023. Since then, the company has:

• Established four new franchise partnerships and opened 27 further shops in the UK
• Announced agreements with franchise partners to enter Canada, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and India, and is expecting to meet its international expansion commitment one year ahead of schedule
• Recruited more than 2,300 people, with an 8,700 strong workforce in the UK

Digital transactions accounted for 37% of transactions during 2021 as the business benefitted from a new multi-channel operating model across the UK.

In September 2020, Pret launched the UK’s first Coffee Subscription service, with customers able to get up to five hot drinks every day for £25 a month. In 2021, the subscription was used more than 667,000 times per week, which has risen to a million redemptions a week. The group said the subscription had been a “key driver” of customer loyalty, with subscribers typically spending four times as much with Pret than non-subscribers. The service has also been launched in France and the US.

Pano Christou, Pret chief executive, said: “Two years ago, we said we wanted to bring Pret to more people. During the first half of this year, we not only delivered on that pledge, but we also grew fastest in some of the places where we only had a handful of Pret shops before. That’s a fantastic result and shows how big the appetite is for freshly prepared food and organic coffee in towns and cities across the UK.

“The opportunity now is for us to take that growth and apply it internationally. Since the start of this year, we’ve signed four new partnership agreements to take Pret into new global markets. The second half of this year will be about taking that a step further, while continuing to run our business with the fast, friendly, joyful service which has made Pret what it is today.”

Pret operates 424 shops in the UK and 558 shops internationally, having opened in London in 1986.

Photo: Shutterstock / Willy Barton