1986 onwards
Beecham and Metcalfe started a new operation, using the Pret a Manger name purchased from the closed-down restaurant's liquidator for £100.[15] They opened their first Pret a Manger in July 1986, located at 75b Victoria Street in London. They developed the chain's menu of handmade natural food, prepared in shop kitchens, and remained significant shareholders.[16]
In 1995, Metcalfe and Beecham set up The Pret Foundation, to help alleviate poverty in the UK.[17] The Pret Foundation received donations from collection boxes in shops, funding a fleet of electric vans that deliver unsold food to homeless shelters at the end of each day, including FareShare, The Felix Project and City Harvest.[18] The Pret Foundation has awarded over £7 million to over 100 charities across the UK, tackling homelessness, hunger and poverty. The first shop outside London was opened on Broad Street, New York, in 2000,[17] and by 2016, there were 74 Pret shops across the United States.[19] In 2001, McDonald's bought a 33% non-controlling stake in the company,[20] which they sold in 2008 to the private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital.[21][22]
In 2008, Pret a Manger's charitable foundation, The Pret Foundation, launched its "Rising Stars" programme, which supports people at risk of homelessness, including former prisoners and refugees, with sustainable employment in Pret shops, training, free travel, gift-cards to buy new clothes and peer-to-peer weekly support groups. As of 2022, over 600 people have joined Rising Stars, with 80% completing the 12-week programme. Some "Rising Stars" have gone on to become shop managers, or have been recruited to Pret's head office in London, known as "75B". 50p from every sandwich on its Christmas menu, 50p from Pret's "Hog Roast Mac n Cheese" and 10p from every soup goes to The Pret Foundation.
Pret a Manger opened its first shop in France in 2012[17] and had 51 shops in France by 2022.[23]
In June 2016, after running an online poll,[24] Pret a Manger opened a vegan and vegetarian branch in Soho, London, under a new brand name, Veggie Pret, changing its Twitter page for the launch from burgundy to green.[25] "We opened our Veggie Pret pop up as an experiment," Pret's group chief executive at the time Clive Schlee wrote in a blog post,[26] "never imagining it would be around for more than a month. We ended up making it permanent..."
In 2016, Pret's group sales were £776 million.[19] In April 2017, the company opened its second Veggie Pret in Shoreditch, East London.[27] In September 2018, JAB Holding Company acquired Pret a Manger from Bridgepoint.[28][29][30] In May 2019, Pret bought rival chain Eat for an undisclosed sum, originally planning to convert many branches into Veggie Pret shops.[31]
On 27 August 2020, during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in the UK, the company announced that it would cut 2,890 jobs[32] from its UK workforce (more than a third of the current employees). The primary reason given was a severe downturn in trade. Most jobs would be lost from shops, with 90 roles lost in the company support centre.[33]
In April 2022, the company announced plans to enter the Irish market, opening 20 outlets and creating 500 jobs.[34] In April 2023, Pret a Manger opened its first outlet in India in partnership with Reliance Industries.[35] In May 2023 the first location in Italy was also opened at Milan Malpensa Airport. In August 2023, Pret a Manger was fined £800,000 for a health and safety offence after an employee was trapped in a walk-in freezer for more than two hours.[36]
In February 2024, Pret announced that it was abandoning its vegetarian-only stores and would be converting its final three Veggie Pret outlets to normal Prets by the end of the month.[37] Later the same month, Pret revealed that it would be cutting the prices of its best-selling sandwiches following accusations of profiteering. Officials at the chain blamed the price increases on rising energy bills and the cost of labour.[38] In 2024, Pret announced major changes to its popular Club Pret subscription service which they had launched in 2021. Where previously Pret had been providing the service at a cost of £30 per month to the customer for a maximum of five hot drinks per day included in addition to a 20% discount on menu items, they announced the subscription cost would be reduced to £10 with the included drink benefit replaced by a 50% discount on drinks, and a total removal of the discount on menu items,[39] a move which was met by strong criticism by customers.[40]
In September 2024, Pret began selling their coffee at A&W restaurants across Canada, which came after a successful pop-up trial run started in 2022 at locations in Toronto and Vancouver.[41]
In May 2025, Pret announced the appointment of José Cil as its chairman.[42]
In June 2025, JAB Holding, the owners of Pret, announced that they had engaged advisors to explore options for a potential sale or stock market float.[43]
