Pret A Manger to axe further 400 jobs

Pret A Manger has announced that it will close a further six branches and make up to 400 more redundancies as the pandemic continues to affect business.

The food and coffee chain had previously cut 2,890 jobs and permanently closed 30 sites through a restructuring of the business, it announced in August.

Pret currently has 389 branches in the UK with 266 of the stores based in London.

In a bid to accelerate its recovery, Pret recently launched a new coffee subscription service as well as partnering with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.

Clare Cloug, managing director of Pret, said: “It’s absolutely right that we take steps to stop the spread of the virus and tackle the new wave of infections.

“Sadly, the result of the rise in infections and the necessary shift in public health guidance mean that our recovery has slowed.”

She added: “We’ve said all along that it’s up to Pret to decide our own future and that we must adapt to the new situation we find ourselves in. We are doing everything we can to support our team members and to prevent further job losses.”