Yes, Manager!
Day 11 of >>> Away in Pret A Manger Ad-VENT Calendar
Below is a collection of some reviews from Pret A Manger managers, assistant managers, leaders and Head Office staff. Manager and leader reviews have increased in the last months.
I will not comment on these and just let them speak for themself. Most reviews are from Glassdoor and Indeed, but one is from a Blogspot site.
Clive Schlee retired as CEO of Pret in September 2019, but remains in the background as non-executive director and let new CEO Pano Christou already take over on Glassdoor in July, probably to avoid further bad scores. Typical Pret leadership, passing the buck. Schlee is also still posted as Pret’s CEO on Twitter while Pano Christo deleted his Twitter account on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted to the press regarding Schlee’s retirement and blogged about his legacy linking also to Pano Christo’s Twitter account. So, maybe Mr. Christou uses Schlee’s account as Clive used to also give access to trusted people to check his mail. It is sad, that this lack of transparency and lack of taking responsibility continues. That is why I continue to write.
The latest review on Pret’s London Head Office from a current employee at the time of reviewing on Indeed. Pret’s senior leadership also have their desks in the open plan offices where I saw them many times working on laptops etc.:
Link “People don’t seem to get promoted unless you are a bully or belittle your team members. The place is toxic.“
Another HQ review from January 2019
A 2017 review on HQ from an IT Analyst on Glassdoor:
Review by former purchasing Director, NY
Link “This place is what hell must be like.”
“I hate Pret” group on facebook.com/preth8ers
A former Manager 4 years after Bridgepoint purchased Pret:
The Times article and photo
Undercover report by Amy Sharpe, Sunday Mirror photo on “staff who are hugely over-stretched”.
Link “… get down from that high horse you’re on”
»This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you.
You will lose everything that makes you human.«
Link “I spend 6 months racing all day and barely spoke 3-5 words a day on my shifts if I’m not on till where you are required to have the widest fake smile on earth…”
Link “I am about to lose my family as I am never there. I leave to work at 4 am and get home 7 at night. My children looking at me like a I am a stranger. It’s not a life. … Bullying, long hours, shortage of staff, – it’s a proper Modern day slavery”
Another Manager review from Chicago tells a similar story, quote: “With the wrong management, the shops begin to break down and brings inner conflict. Pay could be better, especially for seasoned employees. Management gets overworked to save on labor costs. Don’t expect to see much of home as a manager.” Link
And another GM on Indeed from Glasgow, Scotland:
Link “Zero care for human beings…”
A little reminder that Clive Schlee pocketed £30 Million on bonus alone when JAB Holdings bought Pret! Link to article.
Link “Managers are forced to cheat on results and break standards just so that the area manager looks good on paper, though he stays at home most of the days whilst the shops collapse.“
This review is one of my absolute favourites, and brings some humour into all this! Absolutely LOVE this! Made my day! 😀
Also, pay attention to the YES vs NO votes on all these reviews.
The shortest review I have come across. It doesn’t take many words to describe Pret A Manger. This is even from a Team Leader. Well, it’s simply Pret:
Above comments and articles are only a fraction of a long list of staff reviews and complaints. For an extensive, yet not exhaustive list please visit: Pret Staff Complaints (list needs to be updated, I stopped in August 2019) with a few collected in below slideshow.
When on Glassdoor, one has to register and be signed in to read reviews. The best to see the latest reviews is to click where it says by default “Popular” and select “Most recent”. On Indeed, click on the number of reviews, and then location select “All”. Glassdoor and Indeed post the positive reviews by default.
»It’s amazing to me how many business leaders separate their employees from their customers/patrons. Your employees are your core target audience to put word-of-mouth out about your organization.«
— @minmilyjung on Twitter
Any employee reading this, especially in Pret and the service industry: Join a Union and leave reviews on Glassdoor, Indeed and any other platform:
The following Unions cover the food industry (links to Twitter):
BFAWU1 — McStrike (UK) — Fast Food Forward (USA) — GMB Union — Unite – Pret Staff Union (UK, not as active) and others. The BFAWU is very active with McDonald’s strikes and are very informed about Pret A Manger issues.
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Slideshow can be paused
The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in → Pret Staff Complaints
Staff review: “Bad managemet, always being ‘hounded’.”
Staff review: “Worked into the ground without empathy.”
Smile for the Mystery Shopper. I renamed to “Misery Shopper”!
I continue to ask for independent investigation into Pret staff suicides.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather starve and speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.
I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review: 1. “Late Night Girl’s” Story with Pret and 2. Pushing Back Against Pret.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 