City A.M. Article (or rather advertising for Pret) on why Pret raise prices AGAIN! “Pret A Manger: Why prices rises are ‘inevitable’ after surviving ‘near-death crisis’ by Jon Robinson.”
(… prices rises) … If you find mistakes on my blog, I am NOT a professional journalist and am NOT paid for my work. 😉
(I do have a PayPal donation button at the bottom).
First of all, Pret were never in a near-death crisis! Pret have immense money-power behind them from their owners JAB Holdings. The secretive Reimann family, second richest family in Germany with an extensive Nazi slavery past, running Pret and other companies via tax-haven Luxembourg. The “near-death” bullcrap was just to alarm die-hard Pret fan customers to spend money.
Same old, same old bla bla by Pret via UK Managing Director Clare Clough. The same old BS they copy and paste for years, still thinking the public is stupid.
I don’t need to read the article to know that Pret raise prices due to their £700 million debt, while at the same time tasked to aggressively expand to double in size by 2026. Not to mention incurable greed. I also don’t read the article on City AM, as they try to force cookies on us if we don’t pay.
But I read the article on other platforms like MSN or Yahoo for free.
Pret brought back RE-co-founder Sinclair Beecham last year to help fix the mess of the debt crisis and due to increased customer DIS-satisfaction. Beecham already pumped money into Pret during the pandemic while his buddy RE-co-founder Julian Metcalfe threw Pret under the bus last year.
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And now, “former CEO of Burger King owner appointed chairman at Pret A Manger” by JAB Holdings.
“José Cil takes over from Konrad Meyer, who will continue as a director of Pret A Manger after a year as chair” … to help expand Pret far and wide and FAST.
JAB Holdings / Reimanns are in full swing pushing Pret further and deeper into the private equity maze, not only purposely loading debt onto Pret, but squeezing everything out of Pret possible. And all Pret do is being stuck in past tactic slogans, not realizing the public doesn’t buy it anymore. Pun intended.
But journalist Jon Robinson is passing on the BS from Pret.
Quote “The MD (Clare Clough) said the chain would never save costs by reducing portion sizes or the quality of ingredients.”
Absolute big pile of horsesh!t.
Portion sizes decreased, especially since the pandemic, watered down and cheaper products, more pressure on farmers and the supply chain, lower quality, more exploited and exhausted staff etc. etc. etc.
72% on Trustpilot (1&2 combined) are fed up with Pret especially on the quality all around. Scroll down and click on the blue oval button “Show all ‘number of’ reviews).
Further, quote, “Pret A Manger’s UK boss added that because of the current levels of inflation in the market, “from time to time we have to pass some of that on”.”
Again TYPICAL Pret lies. What inflation?? Has Robinson not read the brilliant Financial Times exposé, “The Price Problem with Pret”? Picking apart Pret’s excuse about inflation, while Pret prices rise above inflation. That article was THE best investigative piece on Pret in a long time, not bowing to the same old bullsh!t Pret are spewing. City A.M. is not doing journalism, they are regurgitating what Pret feed them.
Further, in the article from Clough, “The National Minimum Wage increase has a significant impact on a business that employs thousands of people”.
Again bullsh!t, using minimum wage raise as an excuse to hike prices so that customers get mad at low-wage workers and the government instead of Pret’s greed and selfinduced debt. Greedy and debt-ridden Pret grab money any way they can and City A.M. help them spread their lies. Pret repeat the same OLD slogans of excuse, it’s become predictable and boring.
Don’t forget, Guardian artcile:
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And Pano Christou’s annual pay and bonus is higher now, year on year.
And Pret keep STEALING from staff to fund bills and “charity” projects (PR)!
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Clare Clough further, “For example, I’m really proud to say we never do that (raising prices) by reducing portion sizes or quality of ingredients”
Lies!
Don’t you have eyes to see??!
Again, 72% on customers on Trustpilot have a different story about portion sizes vs. prices and quality etc.
Why does Jon Robinson not find long-term customers and interview them on their experiences with portion sizes and quality? And I’m sure he’s a Pret customer like so many journos are. He denies his own senses?
He takes Pret’s word and prints them verbatim without journalistic investigation whatsoever. No hard questions, no push back. Lazy journalism at best and advertisement at worst. Many journalists are still in Pret’s pocket, some even as cheap as for a free coffee subscription or sandwich platter. Pret supplied free sandwich platters to the Telegraph after the paper went on an anti-Pret reporting spree when Pret changed the subscription.
Pret appeased the Telegraph with sandwich platters. Like many “influencers” on TikTok and Instagram doing ads for Pret for a cheap coffee subscription. It doesn’t take much these days to bribe “journalists”.
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Financial Times article by Bryce Elder that deserves a Pulitzer! Proper investigative journalism here! An article worth paying subscription for.
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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.
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Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 