Almost 3,000 jobs lost after Pret a Manger closes 30 stores

Pret a Manger has cut 2,890 jobs and permanently closed 30 sites in a restructure of its UK business, as revenue drops to levels last seen in 2010.

The grab and go giant said footfall had shown “clear signs of recovery” but that trade remained at about 60% of pre-Covid levels, with weekly sales averaging about £5m – levels achieved by the business in August 2010.

The loss of 2,800 in-store roles reflect the site closures, lower revenue, shorter opening hours, and the losses faced by the business. A further 90 positions were lost in the business’ support centre.

The company that said it believed 1,000 roles had been saved after thousands of team members agreed to lower minimum hours.

Pret 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.

“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.”

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