Pret A Manger announce plans to cut 3,000 jobs across the UK

National high street sandwich retail chain Pret A Manger, has today announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs, as part of a plan to save the business following the impact of COVID-19. This follows the news earlier in lockdown, that the chain has permanently closed 30 shops.

Almost all of the cuts will happen at its stores, however, 90 jobs will also be lost at its support centre in London.

Pret’s main source of income is from commuters on their way to-and-from work, and with the lockdown and the subsequent fall in footfall, the company has struggled financially.

Pano Christou, Pret A Manger Chief Executive, said: “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.”

Pret’s 367 UK stores are now open for significantly fewer hours than they were prior to the lockdown and they also revealed that its weekly sales were around £5.2m in August – which is significantly lower than it has been in over a decade.