Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Latest NewsHospitalityJob creation and lossesLabour market

Pret A Manger to hire 3,000 more workers

by Adam McCulloch 22 Sep 2021
by Adam McCulloch 22 Sep 2021 Photo: Shutterstock
Photo: Shutterstock

Pret A Manger is planning to hire 3,000 more staff, after cutting a similar number of jobs last year.

The sandwich chain says the move is a response to the growing wave of workers returning to city centre offices, with Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays now the busiest days for its outlets, according to Pret boss Pano Christou.

The number of new hires means the company is looking to expand its workforce by about a third. Most of the new jobs will be in its shop/cafes but a small proportion will be in support roles.

Christou also told BBC Radio 4 that Pret could open 200 more shops in the UK over the next two years.

Supply chain issues were, however, still hampering the chain, said Christou: “A couple of weeks ago, we ran out of some prepared fruit for two or three days [and] we were short of a couple of our bread lines for a couple of days.”

Hospitality

Costa tops up wages as it plans to lure 2,000 staff

Law banning employers from keeping staff tips to be announced

Under the national minimum wage legislation, are employers obliged to pass on the full value of all tips to employees?

“I think we will see [the driver shortages] until the end of this year and into next year – there’s a real challenge for the industry to navigate through.”

Christou told the BBC the decision to make people redundant last year was the hardest he’d ever have to take in his role. “You have so many people’s lives in your hands and making those decisions was the most difficult thing I had to do in my entire career,” he said.

“When you have to make a call on thousands of people’s jobs, that is something you spend a lot of time thinking through. But it was about how we could ensure that the business would survive and come through Covid.”

Pret said it had received a £100m investment from JAB and Pret founder Sinclair Beecham to accelerate the expansion.

The number of employees now working across the business has grown 28% since the start of 2021, with over 6,000 employees in the UK.

Christou acknowledged that the company had to work to be attractive to potential employees: “Clearly recruitment is a challenge at the moment, and we’re putting everything behind ensuring that we are an employer of choice; that we pay well, that we’ve got the right benefits, and then we’ve got the right bonus available to attract new staff.”

In August, Pret announced it was to permanently to end paid breaks for staff, having originally suspended them in 2020.

But last week, Pret’s UK managing director, Clare Clough, said starting pay for store workers would rise to a minimum of £9.40 an hour, up from the legal minimum of £8.91. However, all team members, including managers would get a raise, she said.

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more human resources jobs

Adam McCulloch
Adam McCulloch

Adam McCulloch is a freelance writer and production editor who has worked in sectors including travel (The Guardian), aviation (Flight International), agriculture (Farmers' Weekly), music (Jazzwise), theatre (The Stage) and social work (Community Care). He also works for a national newspaper and is the author of KentWalksNearLondon

previous post
Bounds Taxis drivers are workers, tribunal finds
next post
Pay: 2% is the ‘new normal’

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Bar staff training needed to tackle drinks spiking,...

26 Apr 2022

McDonald’s and Coca-Cola to halt operations in Russia

8 Mar 2022

Right to work checks warning for restaurants

7 Mar 2022

IT and telecoms most likely to offer remote...

7 Feb 2022

Wales: Employees to be fined £60 for not...

22 Dec 2021

New fit note rules add to businesses’ concerns...

22 Dec 2021

Response to Sunak measures: New Covid funding ‘just...

21 Dec 2021

Hospitality, entertainment and leisure sectors gain new financial...

21 Dec 2021

Treasury could afford more business support, says economics...

21 Dec 2021

Introduce emergency support to save hospitality, trade bodies...

20 Dec 2021
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+