Please note: The previous text in this post with my interview of a former Pret staff in India has been deleted upon request of the interviewee.
I leave the rest of this part up regarding Pret in general and the title for reference as once things are on the Internet, they are forever on the Internet and people often copy posts and podcasts episodes.
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. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. 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 on my work with the press.
If you have no time to read, please scroll to all the screenshots further down below.
(And read the comments at the very bottom of this page.)
UPDATE 2024: Please note that I don’t update every year (some updates below from May 2024) as my posts are always too long. But the main bullying catalyst in Pret has always been, and will always be their mircomanaging and humiliating weekly mystery shopper visits.
UPDATEOctober 2024:
Pret’s opened in India in 2023 under the aggressive expansion task by their owners, and the bullying there is so severe incl. injury. A former staff secretly recorded the aggression and posted pictures.
This is the REALITY of Pret A Manger behind the facade WORLDWIDE. The clean facade of freebies, the forced smiles (tested by Mystery Shoppers), the “ethical” front of Pret that got away with 2 customer deaths, a third allergy reaction nearly fatal (new court-case in November 2020), several injured, multiple warnings ignored etc. Seeking independent investigation into a staff suicide.
UPDATE:LAWSUIT filed against Pret in NYC for racism and discrimination (bottom of page).
Link (More reviews further below in this blog post)
A rare complaint from Hong Kong where most people put their heads down and continue under hard conditions:
Link to 2019 Tweet. An online conversion from HKD 45 to British Pound is roughly £4.65 an hour! And Pret didn’t even respond to the Tweet.
UPDATE: August 2021:
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A VERY common bullying incident from a Manager towards a Team Member. But this time it didn’t happen behind the facade in the kitchen, office or staff room, hidden away from customers, this time it happened in front of customers. The “ethical profile” of Pret is a facade the public still believes, because the bullying is usually happening behind the scenes, away from customers’ eyes. And then, when the Manager or Leader has finished bullying the staff member, the intimidated and humiliated Team Member then is send out to the shop floor, and expected to smile for Mystery Shopper bonus and fool customers with a fake happiness. And as many are from other countries, young, have children to feed or Uni tuition to pay, they feel stuck, too exhausted to find a new job and not knowing where to turn to.
And when the bullying is happening on the shop floor, shops are so noisy with loud music, shouting of staff to make and get coffee orders, talking, busyness. Customers are occupied on their phones or laptops, distracted with talking, eating etc. So, when it happens in the shop, people don’t even notice.
Even when I was bullied during bereavement under the watchful eye of HR, I NEVER told a customer or colleague. I was complimented by customers and received rewards from Mystery Shoppers for my service, smile, giving freebies etc. And after my shift at times I headed for the bridge and still don’t know how I survived. But none of my colleagues and customers knew my inner state and turmoil. I explain in detail in two consecutive YouTube slides about what weekly Mystery Shoppers test staff on.
Via this link: “Smile for the Misery Shopper“. There’s a reason I renamed it to “misery” shopper. Keep the slide playing for the next mystery shopper report where a staff got the £100 reward for love-bombing the mystery shopper, while everyone else didn’t get bonus due to missing food in the fridge.
This misery shopper scheme creates a host of mental health issues under Emotional Labour, that staff are forced to perform. What @Katecordon witnessed here and confronted Pret in below Tweet, is so familiar to me, and this would be a situation where I as a Team Leader then had to console the Team Member crying in the staff room and at times speak to the Manager. Only ONE time when I spoke to the Manager why they shouted at the TM, this Manager apologized to the TM. But this was only one Manager out of many who did not apologize and rather bullied me then as well for speaking out. But I didn’t care!
The Team Member in below customer Tweet made a very simple, innocent, normal mistake. No big deal. And by the way, the TM made that mistake because she was most likely NOT trained in the first place! The Manager must have stood nearby witnessing this mistake. To correct the mistake the TM then did give the 10% discount, but explained at the same time that she made a mistake and gave the 10% as a one-off. PERFECT customer service!!! In fact, a Mystery Shopper would have probably given the TM an “outstanding card”, meaning the extra £100 reward, or even £200 if the overall scores were perfect. Mystery Shoppers many times gave the reward, even when a mistake happened, but they rewarded the staff member due to how they handled the mistake.
The same is by law, when a price tag gives an old cheaper price even though the price has increased, the business is obligated to charge that old cheaper price, even if the till system is updated with the new expensive price. But this TM probably doesn’t know the law on this and did instinctively the right thing because she cares! The TM here did a perfect, correct and kind customer service, but was bullied by the Manager for making a simple mistake and then giving the 10% discount as a good will gesture, which is commendable! And this Manager is particularly offensive by talking down on the customer as well: “It’s company policy, love“. Very, very, very, very common bullying incident in Pret! Bullying and fear management by the book.
The reason this Manager makes a huge issue out of the 10% discount wrongly given as a student discount, is that Pret only does regular discounts in some places like malls or train stations (but not all malls or stations), where the other companies and train station staff within that station or mall get a 10% discount showing their staff badge. So, this Manager would have to do half a minute of paper work to explain for the financial file why the 10% was given in this Manchester airport, that doesn’t give student discounts. Managers hate to do little paper work issues like this as they want their financial records to look perfect. I got in trouble many times for doing it the proper way in recording mistakes, because Managers didn’t like mistakes in their financial files and rather stress staff to not make these mistakes. And at one time I’ve had enough and told one Manager that if a financial file is perfect without any mistakes, this would ring alarm bells with me if I was a financial auditor. But that’s another story. And honest mistakes that are effectively recorded can be traced back in the system and explained. Again, no big deal.
And also by the way, this Manager most likely continued the bullying later in the office, as bullying Pret managers and leaders can’t let go and continue later on, especially when caught out by customers and they “lost face” in front of the TM they just bullied. So, they try to “establish” authority and continue behind closed doors. I hope that young lady finds quick support! And if this Manager is disciplined by Pret, then only because he got caught by a customer who called him out publicly, like he did with his Team Member. If the TM alone would have complained to HR, nothing would have happened.
This shows as well in the very first review from the new LAX Pret shop that was opened in the summer 2019. I could not have put it into better words how this bullying environment thrives in Pret worldwide. I love American reviews, because they find amazing words!:
A little reality check and crash course of Pret’s “ethical” profile. What staff dare to say in anonymity, away from the fear management. Clive Schlee “retired” with quite a legacy!
Glassdoor scores on Pret and its leadership. I wrote a new blog post as well on > Pret’s new CEO Pano Christou, and Clive Schlee remaining in the background as a non-executive Director, while on his Twitter account he still presents himself as the CEO of Pret! (UPDATE: July 2020, Schlee’s Twitter account has also been deleted in July 2020). I explain in above blog why Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account. Clive Schlee let Pano Christou take over on Glassdoor already in July 2019, even though Schlee’s retirement was set for September 2019. This typical passing the buck downwards is to avoid further negative scoring. And yet, still not taking responsibility.
UPDATE: May 2024 – I believe due to the intense stress and a more “wild west” style change on the bottom line, staff at times lash out at customers as well. Pret have made a lot of cuts since the pandemic while the CEO gets millions in bonus, rising every year.
Just some updates, but I will not update any more as the posts are always too long.
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March 2024 Staff Review: “Every single shop had a bad vibe to it … if you don’t do well then everyone lost their bonus and would hate you for the week”
NOTE: Pret settled TWO lawsuits in NY having had to pay 4000 workers back after illegally having “shaved off” (rounded down) their pay. But in the UK no-one goes to court, even though the same problem of unpaid hours is systemic throughout the company, as I have experienced countless times myself. One review below shows the hopelessness on the feeling that staff can’t do anything about this.
And only after getting caught and a public outcry and boycotts for not wanting to pay 500 (!) young summer recruits. Do the math on how much money that is. And getting young folk in, who don’t know their rights and are brainwashed easier. Pret always tries and changes direction when caught and boycotted.
A little reminder that Clive Schlee pocketed £30 Million on bonus alone when JAB Holdings bought Pret! Link to article.
Daily Mail deleted, but Pressreader has all the reports.
UPDATE 2021/2022
The Guardian:
“Pret CEO handed near-£4m bonus in year staff pay was cut. Pano Christou also given 27% salary rise in 2021 as chain took more than £50m in government support.” Link (Please note, his bonus is now £5 million and counting, plus annual payrise).
Link to FULL review WORTH READING! One quote from above review on the hopelessness, compared to U.S. staff who filed class-action suit against Pret twice: “Sometimes it can be challenging maintaining a natural smile on my face for 8 hours straight. … Pret will do anything not to pay you. They will bend the law and the contract in any way they can,and there is nothing you can do about it (unless smile).”
Because the legal system is different here…no pro-bono lawyer likes to take this on as I’ve experienced, because when you win, the payout is so low, lawyers don’t want to pick this up for their 33% peanuts from a low reward in the UK legal system. Too much work for little reward.
Several reviews on Pret’s shiny London Head Office from current and former employees at the time of reviewing on Indeed and Glassdoor. Again, these are reviews on Pret’s HEAD OFFICE in Victoria, London where the CEO and other Senior Leadership also have their desks in the open plan offices where I saw them many times working on laptops etc.
Also, some reviews from office / corporates in New York.
Link“People don’t seem to get promoted unless you are a bully or belittle your team members. The place is toxic.“
Another one from January 2019
Link“… working really really long hours. No work life balance whatsoever”.
2017 review on HQ from an IT Analyst on Glassdoor:
Link“Manipulative and exploitative approach to employees as owners and senior management concerned about profit margin only. People are taken into account only if it makes a good PR. Genuinely fake and dishonest company.”
UPDATE 05. January 2020 NEW HQ review(customer service team) on homophobia, manipulative HR dealings etc.
Link“Pret has brought over many managers and leaders from the UK and ‘beheaded’ many of the US employees who built the brand…”
This is really upsetting, because I remember when I asked my managers over the years where such-an-such an OPs Manager or General Manager is, I often heard that they where sent to New York, as the American Managers can’t handle the work / can’t manage properly. I remember being confused about this, because I lived in Florida for almost 6 years and traveled to different cities over the years, visiting friends. I stayed 3 months on the West Coast, visited North Dakota, the East Coast, the deep South, often for several months. I have many American friends. Americans are one of THE hardest working people. They are inventive, passionate, disciplined, fun, helpful etc. I was confused, but then thought that I know how complex and micromanaging Pret is, so I didn’t think any more of it. But now I realize, reading all the American reviews that what I was told was bullcrap!
Reading the above review and all the other reviews from the U.S., the main thing the American reviews have in common is: favoritism and racism. And it’s really upsetting, because I know the American mentality vs. the British.
UPDATE: Feb. 2020 from Washington DC – Fired due to pregnancy!
Probational period is 3 months, so they quickly fired her and she can’t take it up in court.
Link I can verify that. I worked in over a dozen Pret shops over the years, and EVERY manager seems to take it personal when you move on. I only moved shop due to management. The reason was always management. They don’t look at you anymore, seem offended when you move on, and yet, they can’t give you a positive word while you work there and then wonder why you leave! And the language barrier is big. You do feel left out very quick when the majority are from a certain country, and you work with them for 8+ hours without understanding a word all day. You feel left out, not understanding their language. And this is not meant racist at all. It’s just a courtesy and inclusiveness to speak English.
Bullying from the top down: A review by a Team Leader who runs the kitchen and the shop! OPs (area manager) bullying the manager who cries in the office. This OPs sounds particularly nasty, and reminds me of an OPs that I had before my brother died and I was still strong holding out under this kind of “leadership”! It’s also a recent review from 03. October 2019 (this is Chicago, but this happens in other countries/cities as well):
Link“My typical work day consist of Ops Manager yelling and cursing at my manager. … Managers cry in their offices because of how stressed they are. … Managers are secretly looking for new jobs right now to get out of Pret.“
Link“This job should be reported to the department of labor”. Pret settled 2 lawsuits in New York, re-paying 4000 workers. In the UK hardly anyone sues because the legal system is different, low rewards that no lawyer wants to pick up. In the U.S. one reviewer on Indeed recently wrote that Pret is always getting sued.
Link“This company is everything that is wrong with the world. … Corporate hell on earth.”
Former General Manager 4 years after Bridgepoint purchased Pret:
Link Review from NY 2011, but this is throughout the company and still today, quote: “Management is very incompetent. It is clear they have little to know training and have absolutely no training or experience in employee relations or even customer relations for that matter. Every manager I have worked with – I have worked with 6 – will immediately try to belittle you. Not sure exactly why this is such a common practice among managers but it is an intrinsic behavior within the company itself. … Even though Pret A Manger emphasizes that they are a “people first” type of company, the reality of it is is that they are solely concerned with sales and view their employees as faceless and a dime a dozen. You’re not God. Take a continuing ed course in management, employee relations, and labor rights. This should be a requirement before even obtaining the position.“
I can only underline above (and ALL) reviews, and yet know that Pret does NOT care about labour rights etc.
As Pret read my blog, you will notice that Glassdoor and Indeed reviews have “improved”, but many of those 5 star reviews read like job ads. 😉
Also always check the voting, those also speak for itself. In case Pret recruit people to leave fake positive reviews, check the voting on those reviews. On Twitter I was told by a friend of the late Jeffrey Hyman, who founded Pret, that Pret recruited someone to keep deleting Hyman off the Wikipedia page on Pret. Pret and the two RE-co-founders Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe REFUSE to mention Hyman.
Beecham and Metcalfe want to appear as these ground-breaking entrepreneurs, while in reality they grew up with a golden spoon in their mouths, lots of cash and lots of high society, even royal connections. Why do you think Pret keep getting away with so many things, which would have gotten a small independent business shut down in a heartbeat!
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UPDATE: 25.11.2019
A new review from a Team Leader also with 10 years experience:
Link“A lot of people cry in the staff room especially in their entry period”
23. Oct. 2019 “I have work[ed] in different shops and they are all very similar, it is a toxic environment, Never in my life I have seen so many different coworkers cry in the job. Give more training to your managers, and hire better people, don’t allow them to abuse the staff, it is appalling.”
The next review from recently is a very typical scenario of abusive fear-management by Managers. Scaring low-wage workers that they’re “playing with lives” while the top Senior Leadership got away with TWO customer deaths, Clive Schlee sneaking out quietly, remaining in the background as a non-executive Director, while having ignored customer warnings (link to article), not acting until the deaths became public:
The following is THE MOST poignant former Pret staff review I have come across, and I have read them ALL!
»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…”
UPDATE 2024 – The “yes” vote count is now 54.
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UPDATE:31.10.2019
A review by a (then) current General Manager that absolutely breaks my heart! One of many along the lines of no work-life balance, due to under-staffed shops and not paid for overtime.
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”
I think this is the most heart-breaking review I’ve ever seen by any staff member, let alone a Manager. I hope they find a way! I actually cried when I read this.
Another recent 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
Another GM from London in August 2019:
Link A little side note, GMs go to quarterly meetings where the CEO and top leadership are present as well, so GMs know Senior Leaders more than the regular staff. Some GMs disapprove of the CEO – at the time it still was Clive Schlee. But I find it interesting that this GM has NO opinion of the CEO, as if this GM doesn’t care to even mention their like/dislike.
And another GM on Indeed from Glasgow, Scotland: “Amazing in the beginning – showered with benefits and entitlements and opportunities to advance. Terrible once you see how horribly mismanaged and micromanaged the company is. Zero care for human beings and nothing but boosting sales and company growth.“
A little reminder again that Clive Schlee pocketed £30 Million on bonus alone when JAB Holdings bought Pret!Link to article.
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UPDATE: 10. November 2019 Brand new Manager review on Indeed worth reading!
Link Quote: “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.”
Yes, but this has always been like this. OPs Managers sit in the pub at lunch time when shops are horrendously busy. OPs Managers fly out to Dubai, Paris or in the U.S. to Vegas, Orlando etc. as mentioned above, to party and blow the hard earned money the shops bring in. Many times I didn’t see my OPs Manager for at least THREE MONTHS at a time, and when they came in, they bossed us around and played scary fear management for a few minutes, before disappearing again for months! The only thing I saw regularly was EMAILS and pressuring us on numbers and Mystery Shopper results!
Quote: “Since 2018 there is so much pressure in getting the standards right however I’ve seen kitchens running on two people on night shifts and even one on day shift (where four people are required per shift) as area management does want figures to be right on paper- this could cause enormous issues if something went wrong i.e. allergens.”
Quote: “People are over stretched and tired since the pressure to achieve selection in stores is high but not enough labour in.“
Quote: “We as managers aim to make our teams happy and safe however the over stretching on labour just made us cover the gaps over and over not realising the biggest gap was within us unable to have a normal life or humanity due to the amount of hours being psychologically forced into work.”
Quote: “I have met great people and higher management in this company but there is an unacceptable level of fear cultureup here in Edinburgh, where people believe they won’t actually be okay if they quit their job if unhappy. It’s 2019 and if your employer raises you to be scared to develop elsewhere then it’s not a good employer.”
Nothing more to add!
And the gift that keeps on giving, a NEW MANAGER review on Glassdoor 16. Nov. 2019
Link“Those willing to step on others make it to the top. Talk the talk but actually don’t live by the values they preach.”
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This review is one of my absolute favourites, and brings some humour into all this!
Also, pay attention to the YES vs NO votes on all these reviews.
I could go on and on and on, and add countless more along those lines of above reviews, but my posts tend to get too long. I just post one more which is 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.
Finally, some very wise words I came across once on Twitter, but I know Pret will not heed (they read my blog) because they are stuck in this profit-driven business and always find ways to sweet-talk their way out of responsibility:
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»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 other employee review platforms.
The following Unions cover the food industry:
The BFAWU are the best informed about Pret and have helped Pret staff already. The President of BFAWU met up with me twice and also with a Pret staff who wasn’t even in a union, to assist. The BFAWU have been instrumental on the first ever McDonald’s strikes in the UK. Also another vital and very active Union that specialize in helping foreign workers is IWGB.
NOTE:When on Glassdoor, one has to register and be signed in to read reviews. Glassdoor has changed its selection of reviews. On Pret A Manger reviews, Glassdoor is now sieving out Managers and Leaders reviews on the front page. To see ALL the recent reviews on Glassdoor, click where it says “Popular” and select “Most recent” or “Lowest Rating” AND Clear All “Full-time, Part-time”. Also, Glassdoor demands logins now, where you can only see ONE review without being registered and logged in. The reason why the amount of reviews change from 683 to 697 may be that Glassdoor withholds some reviews. But I’m not sure how that works. On Indeed at the Location feature, scroll up to select “All” and it will automatically list all cities/countries in chronological order starting with the newest.
Indeed now even started handpicking reviews as “the most useful review selected by Indeed”, which shows that these review sites are not neutral, as they only select the positive ones, no matter how “rotten” the company may be or how many experienced staff have voted their agreement with the (negative) review:
DEFAULT view:
Click on Sort: “Most recent” and “Clear All”
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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 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 and was mentioned by the BBC. Thank you for reading/listening.
Please also see my MEDIA page for the press articles I influenced.
Anytime it comes to money grabs, certain buzz words are used to fool people out of their hard-earned money, while a handful of people are at executive levels in those charities making a sh!tload of money. In 2023 a regular charity fundraiser (begging for money all day) working only 3 days a week makes between £30,000 – £33K a year, while the charity work is mainly done by unpaid volunteers under the “giving back to the community” or the volunteer “opportunity” sweet-talk. What opportunity? Working for free? It has become normalised to have free and cheap labour.
I have worked part-time in a non-profit and volunteered for many years after work in charities. I don’t do unpaid work anymore.
“Charity” (love).
“Trust / Trusts” etc.
Charity these days is big business. And trusts are a “slippery, very complicated and devious mechanism” as explained in the brilliant documentary “The Real Story behind Britain’s Offshore Tax Scandals“. I highly recommend watching this documentary.
I wrote an “open letter” to the Pret Foundation Trust a few years ago after I saw one of Pret’s typical PR stunts, using a vulnerable person who is a member of a mental health club in Brixton.
When I became bereaved and Pret not wasting any time to try and get rid of me (please see links at the very bottom), I and later even an OPs (area) manager asked Pret to place me under someone from the Pret Foundation Trust. I have that request in writing.
Pret never responded.
So far to helping vulnerable people in/into work. Charity, trusts for tax breaks and brownie points with the public while trying to get rid of long-time staff.
It’s also noticeable that where the Pret Foundation has accounts on social media, the engagement is very low. Very few followers, not much engagement. And the engagement as in “likes” and comments that happen, especially on Facebook, comes from current and former Pret HQ staff, because I know many of them and their roles.
Not long ago I wrote a post regarding wage theft and pay delays in Pret under the “payroll error” excuse. I also listed other issues where Pret skim customers and staff alike, like since the pandemic placing donation devices directly next to payment devices whee customers in the rush and noise accidentally donate £5 tapping the wrong device.
Pret also stated to place tip devices claiming that 100% of the tips go to staff. Sorry, but Pret never allowed us to get tips and in the USA stores Pret changed the tip boxes to charity boxes after 2008.
I visited NYC in 2008 and 2013. In 2008 Pret stores still had tip boxes. In 2013 the boxes were changed to charity boxes.
My list of how Pret take from customers and staff, incl. allegedly deleting bonuses and cash rewards from mystery shoppers to staff: “Theft and Lies at Pret“.
Bur regarding trusts and tax havens, the German program Panorama did a short report in 2019 about the secretive Reimann family, Germany’s 2. richest family who via JAB Holdings run Pret and other companies in tax haven Luxembourg.
JAB have also entered the pet insurance market and are aggressively buying out veterinarian practices t the detriment of pet safety and pet owners finances.
The good news is that US Senator Elizabeth Warren is coming after JAB.
Here the excellent short German report about the Reimann Family / JAB Holdings and tax haven Luxembourg on YouTube (English translation below):
And a text transcript into English of the German report which can be found as PDF file here.
If you understand German and watch the above report or listen to / read the English translation, the millions of pounds bonus scheme for CEOs, while taking from employees makes sense from THEIR perspective. It’s an internal investment and the report explains very well how this works.
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And speaking of Clive Schlee, he has been made CEO again after having “retired” from Pret in 2019. But this time in itsu starting in November 2024. Schlee owns half of itsu anyway. Clive Schlee now CEO of itsu.
Support small local independent businesses, and where-ever you work, join a union.
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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. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. 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 on my work with the press.
I am a bereaved sibling who has been lost for 10 years looking for support.
I was sent the news of my brother’s death via an ice-cold email that read like a “to-do” list without ANY support during and after it. I went on an emailing spree ever since in the middle of investigating what the fnck happened!
Then I was bullied during traumatic bereavement in and by Pret A Manger, which reached to the top executive level (please see links at the very bottom). I and an OPs (area) manager even asked Pret if I could be supported by someone at the Pret Foundation Trust that supposedly help former homeless people and ex-prisoners into work (for PR and tax- breaks). Pret never responded. Pret hand-pick a few former homeless people and ex-prisoners, showcase them in protected social media posts to the public, but you never hear from any of them externally, individually.
Weeks after I received the news of my brother’s death and cremation, I asked for help immediately via my GP and got “therapy” within two months. Thank you NHS. But it was a trainee therapist while I needed trauma therapy. I went from trainee to trainee to charity to online bereavement groups to face-to-face meeting groups via Meetup.com to anger-management “therapy” to continuing to work at Pret to flying back and forth to care for my parents to continue to seek help to walking the streets of London for years to seeking help again ………….. while everyone constantly wanted something from me or dropping me like a hot potato, as we say in Germany!
I witnessed traumatic issues in hospital and rehab after my dad had a stroke and came out of a 3-week coma.
If you can at all PLEASE do NOT put any elderly or disabled person into nursing/care home!
They say “it takes a village to raise a child”, it also takes a village to care for the elderly and vulnerable! Do NOT place any elderly and/or vulnerable person into any institution, no matter how “charitable” they sound. Most institutions, even more and more prisons are run privately under private equity for the sole purpose of profit. I had no choice and had no means to care for my parents each individually! And I apologize to them every single day!
Pret fired me because I wouldn’t take their “hush-money”. I couldn’t bury my mum during the 2. lockdown in Germany while both the UK and Germany amongst other countries were locked down and the then UK Prime Sinister threw parties in Downing Street, breaking the laws he decreed upon us.
All of this, the loss of my brother especially, then how Pret treated me, losing friends early etc. has me in a fight-or-flight mode still. I was diagnosed with PTSD and still there is no adequate trauma therapy.
Recently I went on a four hour walk for bereaved parents and siblings with a large group of about 40 parents that a bereavement charity put on. I was the only sibling. I had many lovely and heartbreaking conversations with parents. I listened to everyone and everyone listened to me. After the walk where there was no “closing” as in how to get care if we struggle, I went home and fell into a black hole again.
After the walk, before I went home, some of us met in a nearby pub where we finished the walk. The facilitator who does this walk since 7 years couldn’t be bothered though to give me information on any sibling support. It took me two times enquiring if there is “anything else” that this charity is doing.
The first time I specifically “lamented” that for 10 years I can’t find any sibling support. The facilitator/bereaved father did not mention anything for siblings. Only after I made a general enquiry if there is “anything” else the charity is doing as a general event, did he mention ONE event for siblings. The CEO of the charity (why is there always a CEO who needs to get paid a high wage in a “charity”?) later responded and gave me a substantial list for siblings and found the excuse that the facilitator was doing the walk for hours and might have been tired.
Excuse me, but if you do a walk since 7 years you should know the information for siblings and maybe “break-up” the group to smaller groups of no more than 8-10 people. It seemed more like “I do a large group since years and we’re growing”. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in ego and how large a group is, and for how long they’re doing this! Less is more and I still couldn’t find support as a sibling until the CEO sent a list when I mentioned my “grief” with the walk!
I went to on-and-offline bereavement groups which in the first years was with widows. Now, it’s with bereaved parents.
I talked with everyone and listened to their heartbreaking stories of the loss of their child or children, I dared not ask how the siblings are coping!
LOOK AFTER YOUR OTHER CHILDREN!
They are the ones who have to bury you after they themselves are running on empty without any support from you or anyone else! If they live far away, there’s a reason for that dear parent(s)! Should you have lost contact, there’s a reason!
I am tired of hearing people say, “I’m glad my mum/dad is gone!” I’m tired of hearing this!
Every mother and/or father who has children, has at least 1 child. Most parents have 2-3 children. Every set of parents who has 2 or more children and loses a child has 2 or 3+ other children.
There are 2 parents, at times 2 or more step parents, but for the sake of blood relatives, I take 2 parents and 2 or more surviving children.
I don’t have research or facts, but if my maths work out right, there are MORE siblings grieving than parents.
YOU CHOSE to have children! Your surviving children didn’t ask you to conceive them! And they also didn’t ask to suffer the loss of a sibling or siblings! And they didn’t ask to have to carry their parent(s) for years and years!
Siblings, especially when they lose a brother and/or sister in adulthood KNOW each other in ways and depths that you never will! I never told my parents, even after my brother died, how he set small packets of firecrackers inside a bridge that he, I and friends climbed into to run across from one side to the other side inside the bridge. My brother set these crackers for the echoing sound effects inside the bridge. It was an Autobahn bridge with high speed traffic above, while we teenagers ran across inside the bridge. We could have gotten in trouble for the safety issues. I never told my parents the sh!t we did for fun or the trouble any of us got into. Our sibling bond is different to yours. And WE suffer in ways you will never understand!
Your selfish grief, BECAUSE a parent is not supposed to out-live a child, is a fncking burden on your long suffering surviving child(ren). Your surviving child(ren) is too scared and selfless to tell you this! So, I do! And you wallow in your entitled grief while your other child(ren) suffers to the point they want to die as well.
I still wake up sometimes after 10 years in grieve and wish someone would bring me some food. My fridge empty again because I have no strength to go shopping, let alone cook. Lost my friends early on and everyone calling me “strong”. Well, I’m not! I’m fed up!
We siblings will NEVER know how it is to give birth to and then lose that child, unless we suffer this unspeakable loss ourselves. But equally, you parents will never know the depths of us siblings’ grief and how deeply we knew our sibling(s). You will never know the depths of our knowledge of our sibling(s). And don’t you dare sneak up on us to find out while not caring for us surviving children.
Maybe for ONCE, only ONCE, you dear parent(s) can take the phone and call your other child(ren) and WITHOUT ANY selfish notion ASK them how they are, if they need anything, without any hidden agenda.
Maybe once a year? Do you even remember what your surviving child’s birthday is? Do you remember their name?
I can guarantee that they WILL say they’re fine, because they worry about you, because you pasted all your grief for years and years across your family and claimed the sole right to grieve.
I received a request via another group I visited from a psychology student who was looking for participants of bereaved siblings. I couldn’t participate because I didn’t fit in one criteria that I needed to be in therapy while being interviewed.
The study is called “The Forgotten Ones”.
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I was told by a grieving mum during the 4-hour walk, after I introduced myself with having lost my brother and parents in a short succession of years, that losing parents is expected but not losing a child. Well, fnck you grieving mum, I couldn’t bury my mum, and every human being, no matter how old they are deserve every second of life! And a sibling is not supposed to carry the urn of a brother to his premature grave either!
I didn’t know for 5 weeks that my brother died and 5 days before I learnt via a horrific email that they cremated him! He was lying dead in his apartment for appoximately 6 days, could have been 5 or 7 days. The coroner estimated about 6 days. The neighbours smelled a horrible odor and called the landlord and police to break open the door.
They had to push my brother’s corpse away from the door to get in. He had 3 cats that survived while he was dead on the floor. He had one cat that got pregnant when slipping outside, he gave some kittens away but kept two who grew up with their mum cat. My brother was very tidy and clean, but the police said the cats ransacked the apartment. I’m sure animals undestand death. Two cats were captured, the third cat escaped out the door. The neighbours said they try to lure it back in by placing food outside the doorstep, but even while taking the food, it never comes in anymore.
On the day I received this horror email a “friend” said to me that I need to bestrong for my mum. That was before I flew over to Germany the next morning to bring my mum the news in person. I don’t want to hear anymore how strong I am! And I don’t want to be a “forgotten one” anymore with so many other lost siblings.
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Call your other child(ren) and WITHOUT any selfish motive get them whatever support they need or want. And be PATIENT when they say they’re alright! They may not be!
I’m sorry for my harsh words, but I’ve had enough.
In memory of my big brother.
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An Urn is an even Smaller Domain
An Urn is an even smaller Domain Not able to contain A Heart once beating A Life so beaten down to diminished Pain
A Rock is a restricted Lot Yet better than a Stone A Poor Man’s Plot Forgotten not, and yet it stands alone
To Him who at His cumbrous Door Bestowed His final Breath Circumstances know we not Nor Estimated Death.
A Coffin — is a small Domain, Yet able to contain A Citizen of Paradise In it diminished Plane.
A Grave — is a restricted Breadth — Yet ampler than the Sun — And all the Seas He populates And Lands He looks upon
To Him who on its small Repose Bestows a single Friend — Circumference without Relief — Or Estimate — or End —
— Emily Dickinson
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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. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. 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 on my work with the press.
At around 4:40am this morning 01. October 2024 a fire was set at a Pret store in Glasgow.
Quote: “Police confirmed the fire was deliberately started at the chain’s city centre premises in the early hours of this morning. The area remains cordoned off by officers.”
I write extensively about Pret and expose their TRUE face after what I survived, but I am against any form of violence, fire, vandalism of or towards Pret.
According to reports, the fire was set before 5am. Many, if not most Pret stores have staff come in at 5am to start work before they open at 6am or later.
Whoever did this did not want to hurt anyone. Although most shops have flats above, someone could have seriously get hurt or killed. Whoever did this must be deeply disturbed, angry, hurt and didn’t think properly, like instead of going to court, writing a blog like I do, or reaching out to the press etc. It’s just my thought.
DON’T SET FIRE TO ANYTHING!!!
But Pret also have piled up a lot of “enemies” in general, many customers feel cheated out, staff feel betrayed, the over-a-year long bullying of pro-Hamas demonstrators until Pret bowed out of plans to open in Israel. And now Israel supporters boycott Pret. Not to mention the multiple customer deaths and injuries Pret ignored until it got public which still has many people completely turn their backs on Pret etc. etc. etc.
74% of customers on Trustpilot (1&2 star reviews combined as in October 2024) disapprove of Pret on a variety of issues, many having sworn to never set foot inside Pret again.
It’s disgusting that someone would set fire to anyone’s store, home, building, property. But sadly I’m not surprised how the former “love” for Pret has turned into a lot of emotional turmoil for customers and staff alike. Or it’s just plain “random” evil, randomly choosing a shop to set on fire. Evil it is anyway. There is never a reason to set fire to anything!
Just my thoughts.
UPDATE a few hours after posting the above:
Someone on Facebook said that a branch of the Nank of Scotland a few doors down from Pet was also set on fire. But no mention by the press. This is a typical press report using Pret as clickbait. I have read the silliest reports where journlists put Pret A Manger in the title but the aticle had nothing to do with Pret. Good old clickbait. Neve gets tired I guess.
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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. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. 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 on my work with the press.
Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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