Couldn’t have said it any better!
Pret AGAIN refusing to have accessible stores, for YEARS ignoring concerns and requests by people with disability to enter the stores with freedom and dignity.
Article from Harrogate Advertiser:
“Pret A Manger has apologised after a wheelchair user said he was unable to independently access its Harrogate cafe because an assistance bell was out of order and the access ramp had been broken for months.”
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Some further points in the article:
“Mr Simister first visited the cafe on July 2, when he found the assistance bell was not working.
When he returned on July 27, the bell remained out of order and staff told him the access ramp had been broken for at least three months.”
“Disability Action Yorkshire said a member of staff then offered to physically carry Mr Simister and his wheelchair into the cafe, an offer the charity described as unsafe and inappropriate.
Mr Simister said: “Being offered a physical lift into a coffee shop is patronising, unsafe and completely unacceptable.”
“Jackie Snape, Chief Executive of Disability Action Yorkshire, said: ‘This is a textbook systemic failure by Pret A Manger.'”
The article has much more information.
I want to make clear to the public that training in Pret is very bad to non-existent, EXCEPT the forced happiness is a MUST. I had to train myself, many colleagues train themselves. Pret want staff to do “training” on an iPad in their spare time on their much needed and unpaid breaks. Staff are pressured to yearly sign training papers that they were trained in various things, but they weren’t, and most just sign it because the psychological manipulation and fear management in Pret is huge! I was the only one that I was aware of who refused to sign training papers if I wasn’t trained. This got my superiors angry, and needless to say, I was never promoted beyond my team leader role. But I didn’t care, I slept well at nights.
I want to put a few issues here that other people have raised, like drinks stored in disabled toilets, blocking the toilet room completely. Broken lifts for months. Breastfeeding mum told to go to the disabled toilet etc.
Not to mention Pret having ignored TWO customer deaths and multiple injuries before it got public. Or the £800,000 fine after a staff was trapped inside a walk-in freezer for over 2.5 hours, fighting for her life. Pret yet again ignored repair call-outs for the faulty freezer door handle for 19 months. Staff kept getting trapped inside for a few seconds and minutes, until a woman got stuck for almost 3 hours.
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Textbook systemic failure by Pret A Manger.
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I want to emphasise again that for Pret THE most important thing, apart from profit, is to have an appearance of care, ethics and happiness. But they are the opposite. Via weekly mystery shoppers Pret force staff to pretend a fake smile 24/7 in a highly stressed environment on low pay.
Health and safety is of no concern to Pret as they got away with “murder” already. Only more publication and much more heavier fines might get Pret to behave. But I doubt it.
All that matters is the outside appearance.
Just a few excerpts on Pret’s strict weekly mystery shopper visits and what Pret demand from staff:
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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.
NEW LinkTree.
Thank you for reading/listening.
©2017 – Present: expret.org
A recent Interview on a Grief Podcast based in Seattle, WA, USA:
(Please be aware if the player shows 0:00 and 0:00 on both sides, just press play anyway)
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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