It’s difficult to say when, but at some point over the last ten years Pret A Manger became ubiquitous. With more than 530 branches in the UK – and 300 in London alone – the grab-and-go trailblazer has posted growth figures for 34 consecutive months, according to its annual reports. Pret A Manger is the Metro of coffee shops: huge numbers of commuters will pick one up every day.
Founded in 1983 by Jeffrey Hyman in the leafy London neighbourhood of Hampstead, Pret A Manger was soon liquidated. In 1986, however, it was started again by Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham, who opened their first Pret A Manger on Victoria Street, near one of the capital’s biggest transport hubs. A third of the business was sold to McDonalds in 2001, and bought out by private equity giant Bridgepoint for £364m in 2008. It was sold again in May to German investment fund JAB holdings and will give its 12,000 employees £1,000 each when the deal is completed as a way of “thanking the people who really matter”.
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