Pret a Manger is an international[4][5] sandwich shop chain based in the United Kingdom, commonly

referred to simply as Pret.[6] Founded in 1983, Pret currently has over 450 shops in nine countries.

History

First Pret a Manger restaurant

Jeffrey Hyman[7] founded the first Pret a Manger in London on 21 October 1983. [8] The first Pret A
Manger shop opened in Hampstead, London, in 1984.[9][10] The name Prêt à Manger (French
pronunciation: (ready to eat ) was based on prêt-à-porter, French for "ready-to-wear" clothing.

This original Pret A Manger was located opposite Hampstead Underground station, had its own kitchen,
and offered ready-to-eat freshly made natural food, filled baguettes, Croque-monsieur and other ready-to-
go convenience foods.

Opening in June 1983, the company traded at 58 Hampstead High Street for eighteen months [11] at which
time takings had dropped to below break-even point and the company went into liquidation. The name
and visual branding was purchased from the company liquidator David Rubin by college friends Sinclair
Beecham and Julian Metcalfe.[12]

Pret A Manger, 1986 onwards

Beecham and Metcalfe started a new operation, using the Pret A Manger name purchased from the former
company's liquidator.[13] They opened their first Pret A Manger in July 1986, located at 75b Victoria
Street in London. Beecham and Metcalfe had met while studying at university. [14]

The pair developed the chain's menu of handmade natural food, prepared in shop kitchens, and they
remain significant shareholders in the company. [15] The iconic logo was created by Adrian Kilby, founder
of The Formation Creative Consultants Europe Ltd in the 1990s.

In 1995 Metcalfe and Beecham set up the Pret Foundation Trust with the aim to alleviate poverty in the
UK.[16] The Trust receives donations from the sale of products and collection boxes in shops. The
donations fund Pret's "Charity Run" vans which deliver unsold food to homeless shelters at the end of
each day.[17]

The first shop outside of London was opened on Broad Street, New York, in 2000. [16] In 2016, there were
74 Pret shops in the United States.[18]

In 2001, McDonald's bought a 33% non-controlling stake in the company, [19] which they sold in 2008 to
private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital.[20][21]

The company opened its first shop in France in 2012, [16] and had a total of 19 shops in France in 2016.[18]

In 2016, its group sales were £776 million.[18]

On 19 March 2018, the company opened it first store in The Netherlands located in the central railway
station of Utrecht.
On 29 May 2018, JAB Holding Company announced that it will acquire Pret A Manger from
Bridgepoint, with the deal expected to be completed during summer 2018. [22][23][needs update]

Store to open in Qatar 2018.

Restaurants

Exterior view Pret a Manger, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The company emphasises the use of natural ingredients and advertises that its sandwiches are made on the
day of purchase in a kitchen at each location (with the stated exception of a few small outlets). Food left
unsold at the end of the day is collected by charities. Sandwiches are packaged in paperboard rather than
sealed plastic.[24] 67% of its trade is in London, where around three-quarters of its stores are located.
Locations include:

 United Kingdom
 Dubai: 1 outlet, as of March 2016. It opened on 16 March 2016 at Dubai International Airport's
new Concourse D.[25]
 United States
 Hong Kong
 China
 Singapore
 France
 Netherlands
 Denmark: 3 at Copenhagen Airport in Terminal 3, Terminal 2 and Gate A[26]
 Germany: 1 at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, as of October 2018

Organisation
Pret a Manger graphic scheme, London storefront

In 1998, the company employed 1,400 people, of whom 19% were from the UK and 60% were from other
European Union countries, mainly in Eastern Europe. Pret A Manger employs 1 in every 14 applicants.
Applicants go on a one-day experience day at a shop and their success is determined by votes from the
staff members. Many managers and senior executives have come from within the company. [27]

The organisational structure of Pret A Manger is divided between its stores and the main offices. The
London head office is the hub for the UK stores, while the office in New York City is the hub for the
American stores.[28] Each store contains levels of positions that range from team member to general
manager of the store.[29] Above the in-store manager is the operations manager who is in charge of a group
of roughly 10 stores, and above that are more senior management positions based out of the offices that
are tasked with coordinating a region and maintaining communication with the company's CEO in
London.[28] All office employees are paired with a "buddy shop" where they work at least two days a year.
[30]

While the uppermost levels of management are located in the offices, not all the office jobs are above the
store jobs in the organisational structure. Orders do not strictly flow from the head offices in a top-down
manner; instead, the channel of communication between the executives and the stores is open in both
directions.[31] Pret a Manager suffers from a lack of a coordinated ICT system allowing for better decision
making.

Pret a Manger promotes an internal culture as described in a leaflet entitled "Pret Behaviours". The
Behaviours break down traits into three categories: passion, clear talking and team working – and identify
specific behaviours as "Don't want to see", "Want to see", and "Pret perfect!" [32] The number of
Behaviours Pret hopes an employee exhibits increases with rank within the company: team members
should practise around six Behaviours, managers ten, and the company's executives all of them. [33]

Current Situation

In February 2018 Euromonitor International published a report ‘Coffee in Ireland’ which stated that the
café society is replacing the traditional pub culture which is being brought about by increasing awareness
of health issues associated with alcohol. Such is the growth within the coffee industry it has now led to
the development of ‘specialist purveyors of fine coffee’. With the Board Bia suggesting that the coffee
industry will continue to grow beyond 2020 with growth in sales up to 526Million Euros.

The Board of Pret a Manager have been monitoring the Irish coffee industry for the past number of years
and have now decided to conduct a first step analysis of the coffee industry with a view to opening a
number of outlets in Dublin City.

Issues

1. While there is a channel of two way communications each outlet is structured as a ‘stand alone’
entity with very little decisions being made by head office especially in terms of foods, menu’s
and product development. This has led to a wide variety of menu’s across the entire chain of
outlets and decision making at a local level.
2. Following on from point above, each outlet essentially is an autonomous business entity. This has
led to many problems especially in relation to staff management, hygiene and basic day to day
operations.
 3. The case study refers to 60% of staff working in Pret as coming from outside the UK. As the
company are planning on opening a number of outlets in Ireland what recommendations would
you make in terms of culture and developing and maintaining an effective and proactive culture
given the fact that Ireland is now a multicultural society.

References

1. ^ FIND A PRET. Pret a Manger. Retrieved 24 January 2019.

2. ^ FIND A PRET. Pret a Manger. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
3. ^ Jump up to: a b Bridge, Sarah. "Pret A Manger: 2016 results and highlights". IGD Retail
Analysis. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
4. ^ "Bloomberg - Are you a robot?". Bloomberg.com.
5. ^ "Freshly prepared food, organic coffee". Pret.co.uk.
6. ^ "Company Overview of Pret a Manger (Europe) Ltd". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 23
March 2017.
7. ^ "Prêt à Manger founder Jeffrey Hyman dies at 67". The Grocer.
8. ^ "Trouble in the happy factory: Pret A Manger faces its biggest crisis yet". New Statesman. 11
October 2018.
9. ^ Company Number 1763373, Pret A Manger Shareholders included Robin Wight and Andrew
Garner, both directors of advertising agency WCRS; James Pilditch; Monty White; singer Lynsey
de Paul; Jeffrey Hyman; and Valerie Hyman.
10. ^ "The Food & Drink Innovation Network". The FDIN. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
11. ^ DueDil (26 February 2019). "PRET A MANGER (HAMPSTEAD) LIMITED. Business
summary taken from official UK Companies House information. Registered Company Number
01763373". Company Check. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
12. ^ The Startups Team (18 March 2003). "Pret A Manger: Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham".
13. ^ "Organic Coffee, Natural Food". Pret.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
14. ^ "About the Founders". Pret A Manger. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
15. ^ "Organic Coffee, Natural Food". Pret.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
16. ^ Jump up to: a b c "About Pret". Pret.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-05-11. Retrieved
10 August 2017.
17. ^ "Pret Charity Run". Pret.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-05-02. Retrieved 10 August
2017.
18. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Financial Results 2016". Pret.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-04-
29. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
19. ^ "G2: Pret a Manger goes global | World news". The Guardian. London. 1 February 2001.
Retrieved 25 February 2010.
20. ^ "McDonald's offloads Pret stake to Bridgepoint". Brand Republic News. Retrieved 25
February 2010.
21. ^ Sibun, Jonathan (23 February 2008). "Pret a Manger to be sold to private equity". The Daily
Telegraph. London. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
22. ^ "Pret a Manger staff to get £1,000 bonus after takeover". BBC News. 29 May 2018. Retrieved
29 May 2018.
23. ^ "JAB to Acquire Majority Stake in Pret A Manger" (PDF). JAB Holding Company. Retrieved
29 May 2018.
24. ^ "Sandwich Packaging | Pret A Manger Case Study | RAP". Rapuk.com. 20 June 2014.
Retrieved 5 September 2015.
25. ^ Anderson, Robert (16 March 2016). "Wolfgang Puck restaurant among new openings at Dubai
International Concourse D". Gulf Business. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved
28 April 2016.
26. ^ "Freshly prepared food, organic coffee | Pret A Manger Copenhagen". www.pret.dk. Retrieved
2019-02-10.
27. ^ The Economist: Employment: A new mix - In London, almost one in every nine workers is a
foreign citizen. 24 September 1998
28. ^ Jump up to: a b "Good jobs | Pret A Manger". Pret.com. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
29. ^ "Smiley culture: Pret A Manger's secret ingredients". Telegraph. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
30. ^ "Organic Coffee, Natural Food | Pret A Manger". Pret.com. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
31. ^ Julia Werdigier (9 May 2012). "Rallying the Team to Cater to the Company's Strengths". The
New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
32. ^ "The Pret Behaviours". Pret.com. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
33. ^ Matt Blumberg (16 May 2011). "Pret A Manger". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 September
2017.
34. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Paul Myerscough (3 January 2013). "Short Cuts". London Review of Books.
Retrieved 4 February 2013.
35. ^ Jump up to: a b Timothy Noah (1 February 2013). "Labor of Love: The enforced happiness of
Pret A Manger". The New Republic. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
36. ^ "Pret Behaviors". Pret A Manger official website. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16.
Retrieved 4 February 2013.
37. ^ Jump up to: a b c Stephanie Clifford (6 August 2011). "Would You Like a Smile With That?".
New York Times. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
38. ^ Matthew Yglesias (2 February 2013). "Caring Is Creepy (When Enforced By Others)".
Moneybox. Slate. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
39. ^ Marty Lariviere (11 August 2011). "Pret A Manger: A different way of managing fast food
workers". The Operations Room. Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University).
Retrieved 4 February 2013.
40. ^ "About Us". Pret a Manager Staff Union. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
41. ^ "Pret fires longstanding employee who attempted to unionise, asked for the London Living
Wage for all employees". Boing Boing. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
42. ^ Jump up to: a b Davies, Caroline (25 September 2018). "Pret a Manger 'had nine similar
allergic reactions in year before girl died'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 September
2018.
43. ^ Pret inquest: Baguette allergy alerts before girl's death BBC
44. ^ Pret inquest: Allergy labelling ‘inadequate’ in baguette death BBC
45. ^ Siddique, Haroon (26 September 2018). "Pret a Manger: coroner in teen allergy inquest
troubled by packaging rules". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
46. ^ Pret baguette inquest: Plea for help after allergic reaction BBC
47. ^ Siddique, Haroon. "Father of girl who died of allergy on plane blames Pret a Manger". The
Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
48. ^ Pret a Manger confirms second allergy death BBC
49. ^ Topping, Alexandra (7 October 2018). "Second Pret customer died after allergic reaction to
sandwich". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
50. ^ Second Pret a Manger allergy victim named as Celia Marsh The Guardian