As Pret CEO Pano Christou loves to go on a podcast tour telling a fairy-tale, I remain disheartened with podcasters and journalists who never ask the hard questions nor truly research on Pret. But Jimmy, the podcaster used to work in politics, and politics is often toxic, dishonest, at times corrupt. So, I don’t expect due diligence coming from political podcasts.
I’m just gonna put the reality of Pret underneath what Pano Christou keeps repeating in his brainwash to podcasters and the press. I label Pano Christou as PC. This is the 2nd one I’m dissecting. The first one I posted was “Pano Christou’s BS”.
To anyone new to my blog, the reason I write so blunt is because Pret are BRUTAL in ow staff are truly treated behind the “happy” facade. I was close to losing my life in that toxic company. See links for details at the very bottom of this post. And this post will be long to cover as much as possible.
I will LINK TO a lot of press reports including The Guardian, BBC, Times etc. as well as court cases to show a reality of Pret that Pano Christou of course isn’t sharing.
The interview starts with PC telling how he started in Pret.
Years ago he would always say that he started at the shop floor without mentioning that he actually started as an assistant manager (AM) with higher pay and perks, paid for business attire, monthly £50 for dry cleaning and lots of other perks, parties,travel with HQ staff to company parties etc.
I kept pointing this out online until PC then started saying that he started as AM. I write about his “Rags to Riches” story where I explain the different positions it takes from the bottom to get to the AM position that he started with.
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First Pret Store?
At 1:28 he tells how when he became a store manager (general manager / GM) it was at the very first Pret store in Victoria Street. Again, he refuses to mention the late Jeffrey Hyman, who in 1983 started the first Pret store in Hampstead. I write about this extensively in Julian Metcalfe’s Family Line. Julian Metcalfe and his student friend Sinclair Beecham RE-founded Pret in 1986 Victoria. Both as well as Pret refuse to mention nor honour Jeffrey Hyman.
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Andrew Walker
At 3:53 he shares about becoming the UK Managing Director. I encourage investigative journalists to do some research on Andrew Walker who “left” Pret around that time, and the circumstances in how he left. Walker later became the CEO of EAT, the main competition to Pret until it went bust, and Pret with the money power of JAB Holdings bought EAT.
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Investing in People?
At 4:17 he shares how Pret invested in him to go to college in Boston for 3 months. He states that Pret invests in people. Again, wrong, Pret only invest in higher level leaders, not in shop-floor level workers. Workers have to train themselves, in their own time, unpaid. The best way to climb up in Pret is to step over other people and kiss your way up. Please see: Pret CEO Reputation with Staff, what shop managers, HQ staff and even some OPs Managers (area managers) say about Pret and Pano, those people who interact with him the most through meetings etc.
He further shares that he then became Chief Operations Officer (COO). I remember that time in 2018 when the customer deaths and injuries became public and then CEO Clive Schlee was under fire to step down, which he did in 2019. I mentioned then that the COO role didn’t exist at the time, it was created for Pano Cristou as the next step to become CEO.
At 4:43 He says that his predecessor (Clive Schlee) didn’t want to work beyond 60 and stepped down. Again, bullsh!t. Clive Schlee was under critique to step down due to how he together with Pano Cristou as the UK MD and right-hand man of Schlee, handled the customer deaths and injuries.
Clive Schlee even kept his Twitter account for over a year until July 2020 with the words “CEO of Pret …” as he didn’t seem to be able to give that up.
And retirement? Schlee dived under for 5 years to let grass grow over his failure, while also being on several boards of companies. He was then made CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe, founder of itsu, who years before made Schlee CEO of Pret. Schlee owns part of itsu and is also still involved with Pret behind the scenes and is Pano Christou’s mentor. I find it interesting that PC doesn’t call Clive Schlee by name, but instead says “predecessor”.
I go as far as to say that if Pret (Clive Schlee as the CEO) would have handled customer deaths and injuries with the utmost urgency and care instead of ignoring it and hoping no-one will find out, Schlee would still be CEO of Pret.
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Taking Feedback Well?
At 6:17 PC says that he takes feedback on board, yet, Pret are currently estimated to be losing £3 million in profit due to the “Frankenchicken” campaign where 103,000 people signed up to boycott Pret until Pret fulfil their commitment to stop buying/selling fast-growing chickens. Pret promised to stop this by 2026, but failed and tried to push the commitment to 2031. But animal welfare campaigners aren’t having any of it, and delivered 100,000 signatures to Pret’s head office on 13. October 2026.
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And this is only one of many where Pret don’t take feedback. Needless to say that Pret under CEO Clive Schlee and his right-hand man UK MD Pano Christou did NOT take repeated warnings from customers on board who landed in hospital from unlabelled allergens. Not even 2 customer deaths made Schlee and Christou change direction to start labelling. ONLY when the deaths and injuries became PUBLIC, did they start labelling.
In 2018 Pret were also banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from advertising their food as “natural”. They had to change their signage and marketing from “natural food” to “freshly made food”, which is also a lie. Customers post photos of mouldy food in Pret worldwide. And because of the lies on these things I also question Pret’s claim of “organic” coffee, as their coffee is so cheap for Pret. Many customers also don’t like Pret’s coffee.
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Ownership?
At 12:21 He says very sounding words, but it’s a farce. He says that he has an “ownership mindset” and that is team have an ownership mindset. And if you own something how are you going to cultivate … improve this … etc.
Sorry Mr Christou, but NO-ONE owns Pret except the second richest family in Germany. The Reimann family who are also the richest family in Austria as they took on citizenship and residence there for cheaper tax reasons compared to Germany. Under JAB Holdings tey run companies including Pret from tax haven Luxembourg.
Further, Pret are into wage theft, pay delays, even allegations that mystery shopper bonuses and “outstanding card” rewards are withheld by Pret, especially straight after the big summer and winter parties.
On top of that, Pano Christou got a juicy bonus into the millions and yearly pay-rises during the pandemic, while getting millions pumped into Pret from the government during the pandemic.
Ownership you say? I call what are doing, already under Clive Schlee and now Pano Christou THEFT, CHEATING, LIES and exploitation.
True ownership is what Co-op, Riverford, Chobani and other companies are doing, sharing the money with the employees, having a cut in the firm. Not this bullcrap bla bla of Pano Christou.
“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”
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The Guardian after I was contacted by desperate staff when Pret did a 3rd pay-delay that I know of (the 1srt in 2012 under Clive Schlee, when I worked there). I sent this to Sarah Butler from the Guardian, and she reported: “Pret workers short changed as “payroll error” delays jubilee wages”
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Pret did what they do best, use certain days, like holidays, in this case the late Queen’s Jubilee when the press and public are distracted, and delay pay for staff in hope no-one gets wind of it.
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How the Pandemic Impacted / Changed Business
At 15:19 PC does the usual bla bla without giving a peek into the reality of Pret. When the pandemic hit, PC says Pret did not lick their wounds and felt sorry for themselves. Really, I remember Guardian and other articles (mainly by Pret’s number 1 fan and A**-smoocher Harry Wallop, who’s now with the Times, where Pret presented themselves as going bankrupt and is in such need of compassion from the public.
Pret did a number of PR stunts and cutting hours and wages, while PC got pay-rises, millions in bonus and government support.
- On 18th March 2020 just before 1st lockdown, Pret announced free coffees and 50% rebate in food for all NHS staff. The morning 19th March 2020 I received a pnic message by an anonymous staff member saying that Pano Christou sent a mass email to all shops and head office tat Pret will be cutting hours to staff. Later wages were cut and over 1000 staff were made redundant, just to be rehired later for less wage. His full email in “To NHS Staff”.
Pret in their “generosity” basically took from the staff to pay for the PR stunt. Only very few NHS staff were appalled at this as seen in my above To NHS Staff post. - Later Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha got wind of further wage cuts and went ballistic on her Instagram account, rebuking Pret. Nadia has over half a million followers on Insta and more followers on X than Pret has. Her voice made a lot of people boycott Pret. See video below.
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- In 2021 during the height of the pandemic AFTER Pano Christou did further wage cuts, he advertised across the company doing a half-marathon in Hackney for the Pret Foundation Trust, the trust where Pret pocket more money. He then had the audacity to ask staff in all shops to donate to his run to “alleviate poverty”.
Pano Cristou has no shame, cutting wages during the worst time in everyone’s lives, especially low-wage workers, many who worked at the frontlines, some even with Covid infection, cutting their wages and then asking them for donation of his fake charity endeavour.
He mentions the launch of the coffee subscription. The sub later had over 5000 peope file complaints that the BBC with my help reported on it:
“Pret customers complain over drink subscription deal”
The subscription model also utterly deteriorated quality and staff morale, as staff got burnt out.
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The Price Problem with Pret
At 18:12 the podcaster upon researching on comments from many people, why is Pret so expensive now. PC of course givers the same old broken record bull-crap of: Inflation.
But in 2023 The Financial Times debunks the bullsh!t about inflation in the brilliant article “The Price Problem with Pret”. I really recommend subscribing for a minute to read this. The journalist is doing an amazing job debunking PC’s robotic-repeated BS.
And at 18:49 is where Panocchio right out LIES, saying Pret doesn’t shrink portion sizes … Pret doesn’t degrade quality, and then with wide open eyes as if to try to convince the podcaster, saying “we don’t degrade quality … which many do” (but of course not Pret). He is either delusional, calculated or whatever that people don’t have eyes to see.
At 19:41 PC further bulsh!s saying that now in 2026 Pret “has the best value there had been”.
You can’t make it up! And as usual, the podcaster falls for it.
I’d like to point the reader to Trustpilot. 71% of reviewers on Trustpilot (1 & 2 stars combined) are fed up with Pret for a variety of reasons, but especially on the poor quality, shrunk sizes etc.
It’s just easier for comfortabe podcasters and journalists who don’t have to turn the penny 3 times around, to just swallow everything Pret dishes up and not ask the tough questions. Nor do PROPER research and think for themselves.
PC also claims that Pret has not passed on any prices on to customers “at all” in the last 3 years.
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How Staff SUFFER under Pret’s Forced “Pretence”
At 21:06 we come to the part that I am most passionate about putting the REALITY of Pret out: Customer Service.
Here at 21:21 Panocchio LIES again, saying that at Pret there is no “script” on what to say to customers. This cannot be further from the truth. One example I write about extensively in “Pret Staff Don’t Look Happy” is where staff sent me an updated mystery shopper report. Since the pandemic Pret force staff to upsell. If staff don’t up-sell, no-one gets bonus. In the above “Happy” link, Pret have since the pandemic created CLEAR questions staff MUST ask. For example when a customer orders a coffee, or is about to pay for a sandwich, the staff depending on the day have to up-sell specific products.
In the morning “Would you like a croissant with that” or in the afternoon, “would you like a cookie with your tea” etc. If the staff either DON’T up-sell or even just say “Anything else?”, no-one in the team get bonus. Please see the link above with the mystery shopper report. ONE staff member unbeknownst to her was serving the mystery shopper, and instead of specifically mentioning a product to up-sell, just said “Anything else?”. Boom! No-one got bonus that week, as Pret penalise ALL in the shop when ONE makes the slightest mistake.
In my time, Pret penalised us when we didn’t 1. ASKED “eat in or take away” and 2. then forgot to press the eat-in button. When I forgot to ask and/or to press the eat-in button to make it more expensive under VAT, NO-ONE in the team got bonus.
Pret are EXTREMELY micromanaging. When ONE staff doesn’t smile and happens to serve the mystery shopper, NO-ONE gets bonus that week.
Be “natural”? Have eye contact? Staff MUST have eye contact. Staff MUST chat etc. The slightest mistake that could p!ss the mystery shopper off, or the power-tripping mystery shopper at will can penalise all in the team when ONE staff isn’t exactly how the “misery” shopper wants.
I was even reprimanded in the office by my line manager when the mystery shopper noted that I didn’t smile, despite also commenting that my service was efficient and polite. The mystery shopper didn’t know that days before, I buried my brother. But Pret and line managers knew. There was NO mercy whatsoever. I had times where I almost “un-lived” myself, if it wouldn’t have been for my mum still being alive at the time.
Excerpts of mystery shopper reports in 3 consecutive slides, in what Pret demands of staff.
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Also, please search Timothy Noah’s article “The Enforced Happiness of Pret A Manger”.
And the freebies, when a staff gives the mystery shopper a freebie, s/he can get the £100 cash rewards. That’s why staff have this eternal grin and cheeriness and supposed “generosity”.
And PC speaking about “random acts of kindness” with the “joy of Pret”, there are not many random acts, it’s calculated and aimed at mystery shoppers (for the £100 cash) and at favourite customers.
Why some customers get DAILY freebies, and others not in years (or never!). It’s highly discriminatory. And how staff PENALISE rude customers via the freebie-scheme: Pret Free Coffees.
And the reason why Pret don’t want a loyalty program (which outside of cities they had – see above link) is because it would have cost Pret more compared to the carrot and stick approach with “random” freebies.
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Which Jobs are Created?
In short, exploitative, burn-out jobs.
At 23:00 the job creation in Pret, is of course, low wage, and staff running after their correct pay. Pret plane to open 100 stores, that’s again further lofty number that might not materialise. Pret opened 2 shops in Los Angeles in 2024 but closed them again in 2026. Started to close a few NEW York and India stores etc. It all sounds good, but again, do RESEARCH! Also, Pret have more stores now worldwide, but LESS staff overall than in 2018.
In 2018 Pret had 12,000 staff with less shops. In 2026 Pret have more shops but less staff.
That itself should tell you how staff are put through the grind. And of course Pret hire a lot of young people, as their wages is lower. It’s not about helping young people, but exploiting them.
He speaks about that the rewards are there if you work hard. Again,utter BS. The people who work hard in Pret are exploited by the people who climb up by cheating on the strict targets Pret set and taking credit from the hard working folk who have too much integrity to elbow their way up.
And the homeless people Pret bring in are mainly young, short-term homeless people, many who couch serve. Don’t imaging this as Pret picking out a 40 year old homeless man who is on the street since 20 years. Pret hand-pick people to then present them to the public as a success story.
Of the 2000 that PC claims to have brought in, you never hear ONE person speak out on their own. Not one. Pret only hand-pick a few, to present to the public, and that was that. You don’t know if there are 2000 Pret brought in, and if so, what the REALITY of these people are, how long they stayed etc.
Here is what Pret do to longtime staff who worked successfully bringing success to shop after shop. The moment I became bereaved when my brother died and traumatic circumstances unveiled, Pret did not waste time to try to get rid of me, as I could not always smile anymore for their disgusting misery shopper scheme.
You MUST function, must smile, must serve within 60 seconds etc. etc. etc.
Of course PC mentions the “freshly prepared” on site lie over and over in every interview to keep brainwashing the public. Again see Trustpilot, see my post about the mouldy food etc. etc.
All of Pret’s food is cooked in factories and just assembled and reheated in shops. Sandwiches now have 2-day shelf-life labels on. Many products are partly or fully prepared the day(s) before and/or kept over night (hence mouldy sandwiches).
Reports of food poisoning continue, even now in 2026, even despite customer allergy deaths and injuries. Here’s just a “small” collection:
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Pret also don’t give all food away, they SELL it via food apps at the end of its shelf-life. Before the pandemic Pret had a STRICT rule to NOT be giving out cooled down hot food like soups, mac & cheese etc. to charity, not even for free due to health and safety with the temperature fluctuation. But hey, since pandemic needing money, Pret now sell it for cheaper via food apps.
Not to mention that soups, porridge etc. are at times reheated 2 and more times days later if it’s not sold on the day to save money on waste. Hence, ongoing food poisoning reports.
Too Good To Go on Twitter and Facebook BLOCKED me for pointing out unsafe food from Pret which TGTG sell for Pret. I write about this in my “Brainwash” post.
And Pc wants to employ people from the care system? For what, exploiting the most vulnerable? Targetting and bullying me while I was bereaved after having worked at Pret with great success in shop after shop for years, but my bereavement was too inconvenient for Pret.
What a clown-show.
It’s the usual by Pret and CEO of “look at us, how ethical and kind we are” …. while being the complete opposite.
Lies, wage theft, broken commitments and promises (see “frankenchicken” issue again above), psychological abuse of staff via weekly mystery shoppers etc. etc. etc.
About bringing homeless people in and training them, giving them support etc. how about reading what Pret did to a man with mental health problems? Open Letter to the Pret Foundation.
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Another LIE?
At 28:49 PC says that when a store opens at 6am, the first person to come in is at 3:30am to 4am. That is NOT true! Pret give staff VERY very little time in with it less hours to pay. The first people come in ONE hour before opening time! At 5am, to have 1 hour to get everything ready for 6am opening. This might be different at airports where the delivery is much bigger and needs specific staff to ONLY work for 3-4 hours on packing the delivery away.
But in regular shops, and I worked in over 30 Pret stores, staff come in at 5am to open at 6am, so that Pret don’t have to pay more hours. From about 5am, depending on the size of the shop, 3-5 people come in at 5am,then at 6am more staff come in etc. But it is NOT before 5am,except at airports or train stations where opening is before 6am or even 24 hour operation with many shifts.
And on “freshly bake” croissants and baguettes, he means the FROZEN croissants and baguettes that are up to a year old. Plesse see The Guardian article: “The brilliant Pret Marketing we Like to Fall for”.
The Pay
At 30:33 the question of pay comes up, and here again, bullcrap after bullcrap.
PC starts with that Pret don’t do zero hour contracts. That’s true, BUT in one store my manager didn’t give me ANY hours to work for which I was contracted for, which was during the Christmas period. He put the onus on me to find another Pret store where I could work. Tis was a BREACH of contract and I had to fight for him to get me my contracted hours. There is a lot cheating going on in shops, and Pret are very well aware of this.
But people ARE paid by their age! A 16 year old gets different pay and at different time (after certain months) than a 18 year old etc. I worked with 16 year olds who complained about this.
Pret are also not clear about the Gender Pay Gap on purpose, so women don’t realise that they’re often paid less in the same role as men.
Do NOT believe this about the same pay with 17 than with 27. That is NOT true!
It is true that Pret pay slightly over the minimum wage to lure workers in, BUT Pano Christou fails to mention that staff have to work double and triple for it (less staff in a shop, more work for each person). And staff stay a very very long time on that same wage they started with. The only pay-rise that comes are a few pennies when the government raises the minimum wage. But other than, staff stay for YEARS on the same wage they started with, unless they move into higher positions. And even then, manager try to prolong as long as possible to pay the higher wage, postponing training sessions etc. while staff already work in the higher position, but on the old/lesser pay.
Not to mention that managers often “forget” to pay an hour here and hour there, and it all adds up. I had to chase my pay for years!!!
Not to mention what I explained above about wage theft, pay delay, staff being coerced to work overtime WITHOUT pay, also having to train themselves in their UNPAID spare time etc. etc. etc.
The bonus system is also flawed, because the manager can just not award bonus for any small issue, like a staff having forgotten to bring their black shoes. Shop managers have the discretion to not give bonus to any or all staff for the silliest reason. Not to mention the allegation of an insider that head office staff before sending the weekly mystery shopper result to shops on Thursday morning, secretly delete bonus and/or “outstanding card rewards”. Again, please see HERE.
And to Jimmy, is “wow”, please do more research in how mentally damaging Pret’s mystery shopper scheme is. Start with the most poignant former staff review I’ve ever come across and underline every dot and comma.
The reviewer chose the PERFECT title and ending for their review:
“This job can annihilate every piece of humanity inside of you.
You will lose everything that makes you human”
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At 31:03 PC makes the Pret barista job as an “at and skill”. No, Pret “baristas” just switch buttons and have to get each coffee out within 60 seconds or everyone again doesn’t get their bonus. This is all about speed, to get fast money in.
Again, a Pret barista does NOT get paid £15 an hour! And with “all in” he means including the bonus, which is NOT part of the wage and is not always rewarded. So, PC makes it vague again to fool you.
Please see: Pret’s VAGUE Pay Numbers
Further on training that exists on paper. Many people work as “baristas” but o low pay as shop managers try to postpone training to avoid paying higher wage.
I cannot believe that Pano Christou claims at 33:30 that an average store manager makes £60,000 a year!!! That wage is just about OPs manager (area manager) wage, but NOT shop manager wage!
I cannot believe people just don’t research on the BS he says.
Also, not over 90% of store managers come from Pret, many are employed from outside. In the 30 shops I worked in, over half of the managers came from outside of Pret where tey were managers at Costa or Caffe Nero etc. And then they start at Ams like PC did when he came from McDonald’s as manager.
The reader can make a simple search online on annual pay for store managers in the UK.
Also, store managers are coerced by Pret higher up leaders to work overtime for free! So, they are on a 42.5 hour contract per week, but often work 60+ hours, overtime UNPAID.
During the pandemic, Pret cut managers ours down to 35 hours, and they still worked 60+ per week.
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EVERYONE in Pret is exploited! And it is survival of the fittest!
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Again, please see my link above where managers and HQ staff share of their poor experience in Pret.
Only Pano Christou, shareholders and the highest up people cash in.
Again, area managers’ (OPs) annual pay, do your own research, it’s very easy to find.
And shop managers are mostly in the office,away from customers.
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Millions “Thrown” at Pret
At 38:00 on the question of what Pret want from the government and the upcoming budget, PC says that in the last few years so much was thrown at Pret. Does he mean the £50 million from the government during the pandemic, and his personal £400,000 pay-rise and £4 million bonus in 2021, and higher now in 2026, while Pano Christou cut wages of the lowest paid workers?
Not to mention delaying pay (borrowing from the lowest paid workers) and wage theft ($1.2 million settlement in NY 2026 for the third time since 2018) etc.
On the downside, and get your little violin out, Pret have been written down last year by a third of their value. Over £500 million chopped off. Plus the debt, plus the “frankenchicken” campaign estimated to lose Pret £3 million profit in the first year of the campaign.
So, get ready for more price hikes, and squeezing workers to the bone.
The interviewer asks PC if he asks the staff any questions when he visits shops, PC says that he asks staff about their childhood, upbringing, siblings etc. Sorry, again, in my almost 10 years in Pret, nothing of the like he asks. He pretends to be super interested in individual staff. This is really stomach turning to watch
Some more infos PC doesn’t share. There is a reason why Pret RE-co-founder Sinclair Beecham returned to Pret to help tackle the debt.
And lastly, from knowing Pret and how I experienced Pano Christou over the years, in my opinion he is stuck in Pret. He won’t be able to run any other company outside of Pret. Someone on X called this “institutionalised”, which I find a spot on description.
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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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