pret a manger

PRET A MANGER RAISES PAY AGAIN. RE-EQUIPS SHOPS, BUT STILL FACES HEADWINDS

As labour shortages drive up wages across the hospitality and retail sectors, Pret a Manger has raised pay for the second time in four months.

Across its 8,500 locations, more than 6,900 of its 8,500 staff earn at least £10 an hour after the chain invested more than £9.2m in raising hourly wages. In September, the company had already raised pay by 5%, to £9.40.

In addition, based on a weekly mystery shopper assessment, workers will be able to earn an additional £1.25 an hour.

Meanwhile, the company continues to invest in the latest technology from Italian coffee equipment manufacturer La Cimbali.

La Cimbali’s S60, a fully-automatic coffee machine, can deliver up to 600 cups of espresso per day. Employing bespoke features such as an enhanced steam wand for faster steaming and multiple user controls that allow the company’s baristas to turn around orders quickly, with a high degree of consistency.

However, In a blow to the company, Sales in the vital city region of London, and one of Pret’s most traditional strongholds, fell to around one-third of pre-pandemic levels, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The so-called Pret index is seen as a bellwether for the retail market in one of the capitals most important business areas.

Pret a Manger put together a strategy to migrate from the traditional model they called ‘follow the skyscraper’ to become more decentralised, making their products available to consumers through deals with third party stores in rural areas. Last year we congratulated Pret, on responding quickly to the pandemic, which impacted them disproportionately because of the weighting of their store locations toward city centres and commercial office space, all of which were empty during the lockdown.

Now, however, it seems that the company needs to accelerate that strategy or risk haemorrhaging cash while they support the transition.

Author

  • Nick Baskett

    organisation:

    Nick Baskett is the editor in Chief at Bartalks. He holds a diploma from the Financial Times as a Non Executive Director and works as a consultant across multiple industries. Nick has owned multiple businesses, including an award-winning restaurant and coffee shop in North Macedonia.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

en_GBEnglish