I’m going to lean out the window here, but hear me out. And should the Ednan-Laperouse family read this, in no way am I wanting to be offensive, judgmental or accusing. Losing someone close, especially a child is unspeakable in pain and grief, and I can never ever put myself into your position. And I’m glad you have reached so much with “Natasha’s Law” and continue to raise awareness and create change.
This is a general observation and my own aim to understand WHY Pret keep getting away with things in the UK compared to the USA. Especially since I’ve worked in Pret and experienced their carelessness and customers posting photos of ongoing issues with mislabeling, even unsafe, mouldy food over the years, even AFTER Natasha Ednan-Laperouse and then Celia Marsh died and multiple injuries.
And of course the WordPress staff who checks every blog post I put out will pass this on to Pret. Be my guest.
I live in the UK since many years with interruptions of about 6 years in the USA. and came to know both countries and mentalities quiet well I recently came across a brilliant comparison between USA and UK mentality. I tried my own comparison on my podcast, but can never achieve the understanding that the below YouTuber communicates.
I fast forward to the spot where YouTuber JimmyTheGiant is mentioning British politeness and that British people take a lot of “shit” while Americans are much less tolerant of mistreatment or crap.
Please watch this comparison for about 5 minutes:
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After all that happened to me in and by Pret which I extensively share on my blog and socials, I started to do extensive research into Pret and broke the Internet. I found court cases in the USA and the UK, found press articles, staff reviews, customer experiences, good and bad.
What I found regarding lawsuits is that as we know Americans sue very quick and get results compared to people in the UK who struggle to even get a pro bono lawyer. I raised a Tribunal claim against Pret but withdrew as my dad died in the middle of me preparing for it.
I went from Citizens Advice Bureau to other free legal advice charities, and found NO pro bono lawyer or advanced law student wanting to take on my case, because even if I’d won, the payouts are so low that lawyers decline the case as their 30% cut would be peanuts. The payouts are too low for lawyers to invest days in court and weeks in preparation for the case. In the USA the payouts are higher and lawyers would have drooled for a case like mine.
One Citizen Advice Bureau who was a retired lawyer volunteering was SO NEGATIVE and pessimistic, I remember sitting in tears in his office, speechless. My dad just out of a coma and in rehab in Germany, me trying to get legal aid as I couldn’t afford a lawyer, and this 60+ year old retired lawyer giving reason after reason why my case sucks basically!
A few days later my dad died, and I withdrew the case being broken in pieces ready to quit life altogether.
The above brilliant comparison of USA vs UK mentality and British people taking way too much “shit” has me think of the tragic and avoidable death of 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who started to suffer a fast and severe anaphylactic shock mid-air on a flight to holiday with her dad and her best friend. She had a few bites from a Pret baguette bought at Heathrow airport, but the fridge label did NOT state that the bread contained sesame to which she was allergic to.
She later died in hospital.
A year later in December 2017, mother of five, 42 year old Celia Marsh died of dairy traces in a vegan wrap from Pret, but it was found that the dairy-free yogurt was from the vegan supplier who wept in court while Pret just wished everyone well after the inquest.
Pret was warned multiple times BEFORE Natasha died as well as having been sued in New York the year before Natasha died after a man suffered an allergy reaction ALSO from sesame and landed in hospital. Pret WON the case because sesame at the time was NOT part of the mandatory allergen list in the USA while next door in Canada it was part of the allergen list for labelling.
Pret did NOT take this serious to start labelling, and didn’t even start labelling when the 1. customer died, or the 2. customer died, or the multiple customers who got injured and informed Pret about it …
No, Pret started labelling AFTER this became public!
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I worked in Pret when both customers died and multiple people got injured. I was a team leader, responsible for health and safety. Not only did Pret NOT tell us anything about customer fatalities and injuries, there wasn’t even a HINT to be more cautious or diligent with labelling and allergens. NOTHING!
Natasha’s Mum Tanya:
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In fact, a year after the first customer, Natasha, died, Pret held a massive seminar for leaders and managers in the prestigious expensive Barbican Center for 1-2 weeks. It was for sure for one week, but I think it was two weeks from Monday to Friday.
Only managers, assistant managers and team leaders were “invited” (mandatory) to come, each area taking turns. So, when I went as a team leader, my colleague from my shop who was a team leader too stayed in the shop and went another day when I covered the shop. Head office did a massive logistic operation, organising for each leader, manager etc. to go to the seminar for about 2 hours each.
The seminar was about customer service and in a nutshell how we can further “slime” and love-bomb customers more to gain and retain customers. We basically didn’t learn anything new, it was the same old, same old: smile, be nice, love-bomb (my words) etc.
I speak about it extensively on a podcast and explain how annoyed I was when we where STRESSED to not call customers “sir” or “madam” anymore, yet NO mention about a customer death the year before, and multiple injuries.
The slogan the seminar was held under was:
“Be Kind – Be Generous – Be Honest”.
I remember we staff rolled our eyes because we knew that Pret aren’t kind, generous and certainly not honest. So, we just went through the motions and sat up out time slot and went back to the shop. We were supposed to bring back what we “learnt” (which was nothing new) to “teach” to all the other staff.
We never did, we just went back to business as usual, which is: smile for the mystery shopper to get bonus and hopefully an individual the £100 or £200 “outstanding card” (OC) reward. After I suggested to double the OC rewards from £50/£100 to £100/£200 and Pret did that, they cut it again during the pandemic and now back to £50/£100. Staff have to kiss butt all day long to get some extra cash.
Was Pret KIND to label their food after multiple warnings and injuries before AND after fatalities?
Was Pret GENEROUS with information on the ingredients and allergens in their food?
Was Pret HONEST about “natural” food and fully transparent on their labelling on the fridges?
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Multiple questions, just ONE answer.
NO
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What I think in hindsight is that Pret in those days (2017) had so much money to blow and the development team still had this budget to spend, so they put on this useless “seminar” which taught us nothing new.
But what Pret did NOT do and FAILED to grab an opportunity, they could have used this seminar and turn the ship around and invite allergy experts to truly teach us about allergens and labelling.
I also believe that Pret didn’t want to label their food DESPITE being warned over and over again before AND after fatalities, that it would show that their food is NOT natural but loaded with “obscure” chemicals, GMOs , even Glyphosate for which the mighty Monsanto, now Bayer, are dishing out BILLIONS in lawsuits!
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Old website slogans which Pret had to remove post-2018 ASA verdict.
And speaking of “handmade” food, Pret’s food is cooked in factories and just assembled and/or re-heated in shop kitchens or “dark kitchens”. Just as a side-note. Soups are at times re-heated more than 2 times.
Detail here, Pret’s “Freshly Made” Brainwash”.
In 2018 Pret was banned from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from claiming thei food is “natural” after a small food charity challenged Pret on this claim and won!
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Many people haven’t even noticed that the word “natural” has completely disappeared off all Pret’s marketing, packaging, social media etc. Pret replaced it with “freshly made”, which is also a lie as you can see in above link to mouldy food and that Pret now put expiry dates on their sandwiches with a 2-day shelf-life. It’s no more “made today, gone today”.
So, what does the British mentality of politeness have to do with any of this? For one, Pret keep getting away with “murder”. Just recently someone gave me back-up on social media when a die-hard Pret fan tried to defend Pret’s unsafe food practices.
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A while ago Natasha’s father Nadim Ednan-Laperouse who had to witness his daughter dying and was diagnosed with PTSD, shared that while Natasha was dying, he saw angels and became a Christian. He shares his story since as well as with his wife have reached the government to implement “Natasha’s Law” since October 2021 that ALL businesses HAVE TO label their food when it is packaged.
I used to be a Christian and can completely relate and emphasise with the spiritual side if this. I don’t believe anymore for various reasons and I am at peace with this. But I completely respect him and his experience.
He further shared that he forgave former CEO Clive Schlee who ran Pret at the time all the customers died and got injured. And by the way, current CEO Pano Christou was Schlee’s right-hand man at the time and UK Managing Director, both fatalities happened in the UK under his watch as well. Pano Christou has been with Pret for over 20 years now, he has NO excuse to be oblivious about issues! Not then as a UK MD, and not now as a CEO.
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Him forgiving is commendable and I respect it, it’s his daughter, his grief, his life, his choice. We can live and heal how we choose and there is no right or wrong.
But here’s where I will lean out the window and might step on some toes, but I do not mean to be offensive or accusing or judgmental. We’re speaking about a British mentality of taking a lot of “shit”, as the above YouTuber described. And with Pret having ignored warnings, then ignored deaths and injuries before it got public, and now continue to mislabel, I wonder why forgiveness came, and came so quick.
- Nadim Ednan-Laperouse is a multi-millionaire owning a toy company.
- Former Pret CEO is a multi-millionaire.
- Pret are a BIG company supported by the super rich Tories and the Royal Family.
I’m just asking questions of “if”. What if?
- What if the company where Natasha died would have been a small independent minority owned business by a Chinese or Indian family?
- What if that small business had TWO deaths and multiple injuries?
- Would that business still be open?
- Would the owners be free or in prison?
I’m just asking questions.
Pret are a big company, run by white male millionaires. Is forgiveness by a millionaire family easier there than it would be with a small minority run business?
Is this also part of British mentality to take a lot of “shit”?
I know I’m leaning out the window here, but Pret getting away with SOOO much raises questions. And as I’m writing this a day before our own July 4th “independence day” when we will be freed from this corrupt Tory government and watching them getting booted out, I wonder how things would be or would have been if it was a small business having had THAT many fatalities and injuries.
Having worked at Pret, having seen and experienced the lack of training and care, the bullying culture, my own survival from this company, and Pret not even telling us staff, but putting on a nonsense seminar for 2 weeks at the expensive Barbican Center several rooms, instead of taking the opportunity to invite allergy experts … I cannot forgive until the ship is turned around for TRUE change or until this bloated up Titanic sinks.
Clive Schlee ran the ship into an iceberg, Pano Christou is sinking it. Pret are now £700 million (going up $1 Billion) in debt, bringing back RE-co-founder Sinclair Beecham to fix the mess, while the other RE-co-founder Julian Metcalfe threw Pret under the bus recently in the press.
British mentality?
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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 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.
An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.
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 as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more.
NEW LinkTree
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Thank you for reading/listening.
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Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 