This time for itsu, which he already partially owns. With itsu founder Julian Metcalfe’s angry “foot-in-mouth” disease, and Metcalfe’s former business partner, Pret RE-co-founder Sinclair Beecham back in Pret, it seems like Metcalfe needs a sweet-talker in itsu. And who better to sweet-talk staff, the public and the press than Clive Schlee.
And it makes sense why Schlee doesn’t want to feature on Glassdoor as CEO with the legacy he left behind at Pret before he “retired” from Pret in September 2019.
Pardon me upfront for spoiling it again and bringing another side to the PR story we’re always presented with. For new readers, I take you behind the scenes of Pret and peel off the PR sweet-talk of Pret as well as itsu and its executive teams.
Clive Schlee, a CEO who snuck out of Pret and is snuck back into being CEO via itsu.
But say, who is Jason Cotta whom Clive Schlee โreplacesโ?
Interesting how this piece of news is announced on a Friday, enough time for journalists to draft a report for the massive Sunday papers when many business leaders are off. ๐
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Julian Metcalfe and Clive Schlee
When I confronted Julian Metcalfe, itsu founder and Pret A Manger RE-co-founder on Twitter regarding itsu staff reviews on him, he was also placed as CEO on Glassdoor, NOT a Jason Cotta, and now NOT Clive Schlee.
I put some of Metcalfe’s tweets on my blog and video platforms before he deleted everything incl. his Twitter account back in 2021.
But who is Jason Cotta? And why are journalists not digging deeper? Laziness? Lack of interest? Kissing boots of rich business men?
AFTER my โencounterโ with Metcalfe on Twitter, all the negative reviews where he personally was mentioned by staff disappeared. They only exist on the screenshots I took. See YouTube slide here below of Metcalfe’s deleted tweets and Twitter account. Please note, my handle used to be @LateNightGirlMe after Clive Schlee patronised me in my traumatic grief, emailing everyone:
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One of his Tweets I didn’t include in above slide is where he claimed his staff “begged” him to stay on zero hour contacts! What a clown! Imagine that already low paid workers wanting “flexibility” as if they had the money to be off work. If staff have the luxury to have flexible time in their lives, they’d not be working in sh!t places like itsu, Pret, McDonald’s… in the first place! Never have I been held for such an idiot like this. And keep in mind Clive Schlee is involved with itsu since its early days and since decades Clive used to own half of the company, but since Bridgepoint’s take-over now owns 10%. He’s AS MUCH involved as his entitled buddy Metcalfe.
Bridgepoint bought Pret in 2008 and sold to the 2. richest family in Germany in 2018, the secretive Reimann family with an extensive Nazi-slavery past. The Reimanns run Pret and a host of other companies (including aggressively buying out veterinarian practices and pet insurance companies) via tax haven Luxembourg. And as Schlee already has experience with Bridgepoint at Pret between 2008-2018, it’s a no-brainer Bridgepoint runs itsu and further sucks the lifeblood out of staff and customers. Private Equity for you.
But back to Metcalfe, after only 2 days on Twitter, Metcalfe closed his account! Didn’t have a leg to stand on! He retweeted the wrong person’s posts! So much to being media savvy! Does itsu not have a PR department holding the reins tighter on Metcalfe?
In hindsight, this had Kamala Harris – Donald Trump debate vibes! I couldn’t believe he kept re-tweeting me! I even remember thinking “keep talking Julian, keep talking” while busy grabbing screen shots! ๐
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Clive Schlee, who โretiredโ in 2019 owns part of itsu, becoming itsu’s CEO is a test or provocation on how the British public takes more bullshit from these entitled people.
I write extensively about how Schlee patronised me during traumatic bereavement: Clive Schlee’s Legacy.
My exposรฉ on net-worth ยฃ215 million itsu founder and Pret RE-co-founder Julian Metcalfe, his friendship with Clive Schlee, his love for zero hour contracts and robots, his connection to the Royal family, a questionable connection (Jeffrey Epstein), what staff say about him, why some Asian people don’t like him and how I chased him off Twitter, now X.
Sinclair Beecham, the other RE-co-founder of Pret is also now back in Pret after current CEO Pano Christou with his over 20 years in Pret has his head in the sand regarding customer complaints, high staff turnover, ยฃ700 million debt and other issues. (ยฃ800,000 fine after ignoring safety issues yet again, and another staff got trapped in a freezer for close to 3 hours fighting for her life.)
Now the happy family of Pret and itsu goes as follows:
Metcalfe / Schlee (itsu)
and
Beecham / Christou (Pret)
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Little update February 2025:
Julian Metcalfe again trying to throw Pret under the bus by comparing his SUSHI business to Pret’s SANDWICH business, claiming he will overtake Pret by size. In a recent Telegraph article, Metcalfe continues to talk nonsense. There seems to be resentment towards Pret, or is it jealousy? Regret? Regret to have sold Pret and “retrieved” to itsu with Schlee?
Quote from part of the article with the old-fashioned five-year plan:
ยปThe founder of Pret A Manger believes his Asian-inspired food business Itsu will soon be bigger than the ubiquitous sandwich chain, as he bets on appetite from health-conscious consumers and international growth. … “In five years, weโll definitely be much, much bigger than Pret A Manger because weโll have a really fast-growing relationship with customers and no one else can supply the sort of food that we do.”ยซ
Metcalfe’s nonsense is discreetly shut down, quote:
ยปYet most analysts viewed Metcalfeโs ambition to take on Pret as overly optimistic, given the strong presence of the sandwich shop in cities across the UK. โComparing Itsu to Pret A Manger feels a bit of a red herring,โ said Clive Black, head of research at Shore Capital. โIt would require quite an enormous organic store opening programme or an acquisition of a significant number of stores, or a collapse of Pret sales.”ยซ
Two things:
Pret are NOT an organic food company. Pret claim to do organic coffee, but not food. Pret were even banned in 2018 by the Advertising Standards Authority from claiming their food is natural. And I even question Pret’s claim of organic coffee as their coffee is so cheap; Pret stopped doing fair-trade beans also around 2018; and their coffee has a bad reputation since years and ongoing. Apart from that, the term “organic” can now be more loosely used as they relaxed the rules and if one part of an ingredient is organic, but not the other part, companies STILL present the whole product as “organic”. Pret’s BIGGEST profit margin is coffee. HOW can the sheer amount of coffee Pret sell be “organic” while so cheap for Pret? ๐
Why is Metcalfe not taking on Wasabi or any other Asian inspired chain? It’s like Mercedes Benz wanting to compete with a Red Bull cross motor bike racing brand. Again, from having observed Metcalfe’s public comments, as well as his reputation with staff, this sounds like a man who regrets having sold Pret out completely and is forced to watch Pret’s growth from afar. He can’t get a grip of this and pretends he can overtake Pret. and some business experts aren’t having it.
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Bridgepoint (now owns itsu / formerly owned Pret between 2008-2018).
JAB Holdings / Reimann family currently own Pret since 2018.
It’s not Pret โversusโ itsu, but Pret โandโ itsu back in the fight to fool the public. They’re one big family out for more money and Schlee trying to get his fuzzy spot back with the press and the public.
They hope that grass has grown over their neglect for customer safety and staff exploitation. I keep mowing.
Clive Schlee former CEO of Pret ignored customer deaths and injuries before it got public, together with Pano Christou who was UK Managing Director then, and is now CEO of Pret.
Schlee had a podcast appearance earlier in 2024 with two Austrian guys, one of which used to work at Pret (Bauer). Schlee has a main residence in Austria where he also used to have executive meetings and takes people on a hike, while his main staff suffered in London and around other countries.
In this podcast interview Schlee was asked typical business questions like how a CEO deals with challenge, crisis etc. He started with what the most challenging issue was with itsu and then with Pret.
In the podcast Schlee’s biggest set-back in itsu was the 2. shop he and Metcalfe opened. In Pret his biggest challenge was the 2008 financial crisis, NOT the customer deaths and injuries. In fact, the customer fatalities and injuries are not mentioned even once!
Not one time does Schlee acknowledge the deaths of 2 customers and multiple injuries of people, some who landed in hospital from unlabelled allergens. Schlee did the usual sweet-talk and even distanced himself from responsibility, saying that decisions are โdemocraticโ. It’s his typical way to pass the buck to others.
For new readers to my blog, please familiarise yourself with Pret’s extremely strict and micromanaging mystery shopper scheme, forcing staff to portray a happiness or they get penalised.
Clive Schlee here in the podcast is talking his typical La La Land sweet-talk, in delusion or plain denial how staff suffer.
I write about Pret’s mystery shopper scheme, which since around 2016-ish is done via HGEM which are also mystery shopper providers for itsu. HGEM blocked me on Twitter after I posted to them how much I suffered, to the point of suicide, under Pret’s abusive and humiliating mystery shopper scheme. So far to a company that provides a service to make people “happy”.
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Please see The Dangers of Emotional Labour on Pret’s mystery shopper scheme. There’s a reason why I renamed it as “misery” shopper.
In case the above podcast link gets deleted, I uploaded it. It’s 35+ minutes, if it shows 0:00, just click play:
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Repeat: Schlee’s podcast interview and NOT ONE mention on customer fatalities and injuries!
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We’re witnessing the biggest piss-take in the history of Pret A Manger
Schlee, who got the Pret CEO gig from Metcalfe โฆ and mentored (diaper changed) current Pret CEO Pano Christou โฆ
will either try to throw Christou under the bus OR for old time’s sake MERGE itsu with Pret. You’ve read it here first!
Hey! Why hasn’t that happened before? But from observing Pret and itsu, with Metcalfe having thrown Pret under the bus recently, I guess they like to stay at arms length, still supporting each other.
Metcalfe is a more ruthless boss, while Schlee is more timid and fools his way through the business world with sweet-talk and a touchy-touchy approach. Sinclair Beecham rolls up his sleeves, being back in Pret, already having pumped money into Pret during the pandemic. Pano Christou, who learnt from Schlee is busy portraying himself as this great CEO in the press.
Pret, with the money-power of JAB Holdings bought EAT, with EAT’s former CEO Andrew Walker (former Pret UK Managing Director) โresigningโ after his โvisitโ to Schlee’s Austrian residence. Ooops! Tell us more Mr. Schlee.
The biggest set-back for Schlee in regards to itsu was when he and Metcalfe opened the second itsu shop and ran into massive financial challenges.
Here is where Clive Fretwell comes in, whom Schlee of course doesn’t mention in the podcast interview. Fretwell won a Tribunal case against Metcalfe and Schlee, and was rewarded an undisclosed sum.
Quote from below article:
ยปClive Fretwell, who had worked for 14 years at Le Manoir aux QuatโSaisons, told a Woburn employment tribunal he had been recruited in 1988 to help develop a chain of Itsu restaurants.
He said the intention had been to give him a 2.5% founding stake in the business and an additional 10% in two years, with the possibility of โbig moneyโ if it were sold.
When a second restaurant, which opened two years later, failed to live up to expectations, Fretwell claimed he became aware that Metcalfe and itsu co-director Clive Schlee were trying to get rid of him.
He said he was told last July that the company could not afford his salary, and he was dismissed in August.
This Caterer link has now turned into registration/log in only. But it can also be found via other news putlets like The Evening Standard etc. Just a simply Google search will show several sites.
So, “retired” Clive Schlee is back on the fast-food scene. How does the press, and more importantly, how do customers deal with it?
Clive Schlee for sure can’t let Pano Christou take all the applause together with Sinclair Beecham. Are Metcalfe and Schlee trying to puff their chests out to shout to the public that THEY are still relevant?
For sure, all these four entitled prats are one big happy family, squeezing the heck out of low-wage staff and continue to rip off customers. I named Clive Schlee the Ronald McDonald Clown of Pret for his role as Pret CEO being the smiley facade to the public while staff were/are exploited and patronised.
Itsu will now get its own clown. Pardon for being so blunt, but after how Schlee called me his “late night girl” when I became traumatically ill with emailing. And then weeks later gave the green light for HR to fire me after I declined Pret’s “hush money”, not signing a NDA, and days after my dad came out of a three-week coma. Not to mention how he and Pano ignored customer deaths and injuries before it got public, he deserves the clown title. And that is even too mild!
I have a feeling that after Metcalfe threw Pret under the bus in the press earlier in 2024 while his former business partner Sinclair Beecham being back in Pret trying to fix the ยฃ700 million debt in Pret and the aggressive expansion, as tasked by the Reimanns, Metcalfe places Schlee as CEO into itsu as an internal competition to Beecham/Christou?
Just a thought.
Also, worth noting that itsu continues to have product recalls due to either mislabelling or wrong ingredients in their food, as well as customer reviews of โfoulโ fish, chicken etc.
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And an updated review early Feb. 2025:
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For more, please see Trustpilot most recent reviews along those lines.
And 73% of customers on Trustpilot (1&2 star reviews combined as of Feb. 2025) disapprove of Pret on a variety of issues, many having sworn to never set foot inside Pret again. Hence, Sinclair Beecham was called back to fix the mess while Pano Christou is busy telling the media what a “rags to riches” star he is.
And as a little side note, when customers rave about “happy” staff, they still don’t know about Pret’s micromanaging mystery shopper scheme, forcing staff to smile or not get bonus. I put links to articles about this on Pret’s Emotional Labour practices.
And as I link customers to Trustpilot, there seem to be an organised effort by die-hard Pret fans and/or Pret themselves to boost up Pret’s ratings now. ๐
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Today is the 27.09.2024 and let’s see when/if Clive Schlee will be placed on Glassdoor. Unless Metcalfe remains there to take the credit, and Schlee is still “traumatised” from his review score on Glassdoor.
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Little side note: Metcalfe recently got his drivers license suspended for 6 months for using his mobile phone while driving.
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Customers and the Press may forget, but exploited Staff never forget
Clive Schlee certainly left Pret with a “legacy” and then placed Christou on Glassdoor two months before Schlee “retired”. See the date on the top right, 30 June 2019. In July 2019 Pano Christou was placed on Glassdoor even though Schlee “retired” from Pret in September 2019. A customer pointed out the bad scoring of Schlee when Schlee was still on Twitter.
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This comment to Pret and Clive is fom 01. July 2019 when the announcement was made that Schlee would retire in September 2019. It took less than two weeks and Pano Christou was quickly put on Glassdoor as CEO. ๐
Schlee also remained as CEO on Twitter until July 2020. Couldn’t let go. And Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account in July 2019 when Schlee’s “retirement” was announced. Christou is on LinkedIn where people in the business world tell him all day long how great he is.
Clive Schlee 30 June 2019
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Pano Christou 12 July 2019
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And what shop managers, HQ staff, even OPs (area) manager say about Pret incl. Pano Chtistou: Pret CEO Reputation with Staffโ
Not to mention Clive Schlee’s ranking as Pret CEO (2014) having been towards the bottom in comparison with other company CEOs:
And the challenge by animal rights activists to Clive Schlee, who’s on the Board of Directors for Dairy Farm Group, one of the largest retail companies in Asia, regarding chicken welfare:
Let’s not forget, or let’s learn who started Pret. And let’s continue the conversation in how Pret / Metcalfe / Beecham / Schlee / Christou REFUSE to mention and honour him.
A friend of the late Jeffrey Hyman who tweeted a remembrance on Hyman’s anniversary of his death, told me on Twitter that Pret employed someone to keep changing the Wikipedia entry on Pret to delete any mention of Hyman. The person got banned eventually.
Screenshot of my conversation with Hyman’s friend:
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Do your own research on any company or organisation when they sound too good to be true. And always check your food!
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etc. etc. etc.
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Again, who is Jason Cotta whom Clive Schlee โreplacesโ? Isn’t Schlee replacing Metcalfe? Or who was the CEO of itsu? Metcalfe certainly must have gotten the negative reviews on him deleted off Glassdoor to “build” a faux legacy KNOWING how I at least collect screenshots after I chased him off Twitter / X.
Who is Jason Cotta? Upon doing just a few minutes of digging online, Jason Cotta seems to fill in spots in various companies. He seems to jump from company to company, as a filler? He’s not named as itsu’s CEO as far as I can find.
And as a reminder or something new for those who don’t follow Pret issues, Clive Schlee several times quoted his wife who said that, quote: “any damn fool can run Pret“. Well, the fool’s back.
I changed Pret’s logo to reflect the reality. Please note, that since 2018 Pret are banned from claiming their food is “natural”. But even the “freshly made” slogan is a lie. What could itsu be changed into to reflect reality?
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Most people try to gaslight me that all the stuff I’ve been through since 2015 is no big deal. A recent comment on social media below at the end. Thank you for acknowledging. It means a lot to me.
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And a last little side note, Pret have the Pret Foundation Trust where they supposedly help former homeless people and ex-prisoners into work. I and an OPs manager asked Pret if I can be placed under someone from the Pret Foundation due to my traumatic loss, the bullying in Pret, despite me having worked 7 years very successfully when my brother died. I have that request in writing.
Pret never responded.
Their Pret Foundation is just a smoke screen to hide how they really treat staff and for PR. I encourage people to do some research into Trusts. Those are not only perfect for tax breaks, but Trusts are not scrutinised like businesses are. I really recommend watching this little part from a documentary about offshore tax havens. And then it will also ring bells why Pret since the pandemic have placed donation devices very close next to payment devices. Customers then accidentally in a rush tap the donation device, unwillingly donate ยฃ5 and then being prompted again to pay and tap the payment device. Katchink!
And Pret make it hard to get a refund as the refund is issued by the company (GoodBox) who collects the donations on Pret’s behalf. And Pret know how customers most likely are embarrassed to request a refund from “charity”. Never trust a Trust and a billion-pound heavy company that have Trusts under the “charity” umbrella!
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And many more complaints like this. And low and behold, it’s “proving very popular with Pret customers” with Pret having had a 122% increase in donations! When I worked at Pret, the donation boxes where 99% filled with pennies and 5p coins max. VERY rarely was there ยฃ1 and ยฃ2 coins or bank notes. So yes, a ยฃ5 donation by default via machines … katchink!
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The money grab is everywhere. And Pret’s current owners, the 2. richest family in Germany, the secretive Reimann family run Pret, Krispy Kreme, Panera and a host of other companies via JAB Holdings in tax haven Luxembourg. JAB also aggressively buy out veterinarian practices and entered the pet insurance market, all to the detriment of pet health and pet owners’ pockets. The good news is, that US Senator Elizabeth Warren is coming after JAB.
Check who owns your vet and support small independent businesses who would get shut down with ONE customer fatality.
And I wish that itsu gets a blogger exposing them like Pret has with my blog. But I fear, I will remain the only one after Andrej Stopa and another former staff’s Facebook “I hate Pret” page.
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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 โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
(Please be aware that the player shows 0:00 but just press play)
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Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
UPDATE 18. July 2024 The Pret subscription saga continues with Pret now scrapping the “free” drinks and trying to convince customers that it’s a good deal.
Some bad press on Pret recently which has increased since 2018, partly due to my blog and communicating with journalists, and also the customer deaths and injuries which has shook the public as everyone fell for Pret’s โethicalโ facade.
Upfront, someone from WordPress is checking every post I put out as Pret must have complained about me. So, someone is always checking what I put out. As WordPress claim they honour free speech and free press, they found a compromise for Pret, and moved my blog into the โadultโ section where they host porn sites. This means that every WordPress user who is logged in and does a search within the โreaderโ section on anything regarding Pret, can NOT find my blog.
Of course I raised this with WP but they only come with bogus reasons. I am still looking into moving my blog completely to a new host as I pay for my blog and have my free speech restricted within WordPress.
I want to post one article here from 2013 that I wish I read when I worked in Pret then. It remains my absolute favourite press article about Pret for several reason. One, it’s so bloody well researched and written. But mainly because it was written in 2013 when NO journalist dared to look deeper into, let alone write critically about Pret. It was a time of Pret’s high life and extreme favour with the public AND the press. Them days are over now! 6 years ago when I started to write publicly about Pret, hardly anyone believed me. Now it’s much more common knowledge and it’s time that the Pret facade is cracked substantially.
Timothy Noah remains hands-down my favourite journalist in regards to Pret.
I list a few more great articles about the psychological “abuse” as I call it with other journalists articles in The Dangers of Emotional Labour and how it affects not only the mental health of workers, but morale, addiction, how it hurts even physically and financially.
Some bad press that are worth mentioning. There is more, but I keep it with the recent ones and try to keep it as short as possible (yeah, right!). Not sure if I’ll update, depending on the severity of a scandal Pret manage to create.
A recent article in the iPaper which I really recommend about the โmaster cupโ. I’ve seen this during very busy coffee rushes even before the coffee subscription. The journalist is throwing a little word-play in there which you normally see with Daily Mail, Metro etc.:
Pret are forced to refund “some genuine” customers after the new app keeps failing customers their drinks. BUT I explain how Pret WILL trick customers.
“Pret refunds subscribers after crackdown on free coffee backfires”
Link (Sidenote: Some news outlets STILL use the old image with “natural” food despite Pret being banned in 2018 from using this on their marketing).
If you’re affected you need to demand a FULL refund and AFTER the refund demand for your data to be deleted if you do not wish to have the subscription and/or app.
Pret will try EVERYTHING to NOT refund and keep customers bound to the subscription. Do NOT trust Pret!!!
And, it’s funny how journalists feel “vindicated” to have known all along how Pret’s subscription is a rip off, ignoring that I’ve been writing this since Pret started the subin September 2020 ๐
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ยปOh, how delicious it is to be proven right. A little under a year ago, I cancelled my Pret subscription after I was struck with the lightning bolt realisation that the chain was using my own caffeine addiction to rip me off. I havenโt had a coffee from Pret ever since.ยซ
How delicious it is to be proven right? Tell me that since May 2018 ๐
My “Pret’s Continued Coffee Subscription Rip-Off” post from January 2021 is still one of THE MOST read articles on my blog, especially by journalists. It emboldened journalists to more freely criticise Pret now compared to years ago where they were kissing up to Pret non-stop (except Timothy Noah).
And as usual, journalists MAINLY write a critical article about Pret when THEY themselves are affected as customers. Hardly independent journalism there. No care whatsoever what current and former staff say. Who cares about low-wage workers who are VITAL in customer servoce and the food and drnk these journalists put in their stomachs which these burnt-out, often depressed, some alcoholic workers TOUCH.
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Further regarding the coffee subscription, which is now Pret’s MAIN product and staff are penalised if they don’t push/mention it to customers:
I wrote a brief post about HOW Pret make profit via the subscription and the countless complaints from the early days of the subscription launch in September 2020:
In the next article, it’s always interesting when journalists say Pret is โbecomingโ a scandal when it comes to prices and their pockets. More and more customers stopped going to Pret due to the prices, yet, these same customers don’t give a toss that Pret IGNORED two customer deaths and multiple injuries UNTIL this became public. It’s always when it comes to money that people, even journalists are outraged.
An EXCELLENT article in the Financial Times which kickstarted the press writing more about Pret’s prices and quality. But this FT article really takes a good look at Pret’s claim on inflation etc.
The Spectator: “How Pret ate itself”, which is only one part in the article of a series of businesses in trouble, but Pret as usual serve as clickbait.
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Some snippets of the Spectator article:
ยปBut the success story has gradually soured, one bad piece of PR following another.ยซ
And mid to end of April 2024 The Telegraph whipped out a series of anti-Pret articles, leading Pret to send them thousands of pounds worth of food to appease the Telegraph’s “wrath”. JAB Holdings who own Pret also reshuffled and brought back RE-co-founder Sinclair Beecham, who already pumped money into Pret during the pandemic, to keep them afloat. Beecham is brought back supposedly to help expand Pret, although I have the suspicion that the REAL reason is because CEO Pano Christou simply doesn’t cope as he is already busy flying around the world expanding while UK shops are in shambles.
And Beecham’s return to Pret is like Rishi Sunak bringing back former PM David Cameron. And in typical Pret fashion, they say they bring Beecham back to expand Pret, while in reality Pret are in ยฃ700 million debt and Beecham has to save the day.
Julian Metcalfe is close buddy with former Pret CEO Clive Schlee whom he gave the CEO spot years ago. Schlee also owns half of itsu. My hunge is that Schlee and Metcalfe are is p!ssed off with how current CEO Pano Christou is sinking Pret. Yet, Schlee run Pret into an iceberg in the first place. NEVER forget how Schlee and his then right-hand man Pano Christou as UK Managing Director ignored TWO customer deaths and ober 20 injuries (that we know of) BEFORE this became public. We staff didn’t even know! And Pret went business as usual while selling themselves to the public as ethical, caring and trail blazers. Never forget that!
Do some research on their bullsh!t slogan “Be Kind – Be Generous – Be Honest” or “Pret, doing the right thing naturally” and many other bullcrap slogans.
And Julian Metcalfe being Julian Metcalfe, he runs his mouth in the press while ALSO having complaints on his itsu app on social media. ๐
There’s a saying in Germany that goes like, “Schadenfreude ist die beste Freude”.
And Karma’s a bitch!
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A few older reports:
There is more, but I keep it as short as possible.
Pret being naughty again and mess with staff data:
Please note that the legal system in the USA is different to that in the UK. More staff sue Pret in the USA than the UK as the court system is more balanced and looks after the small guy more than the UK. And the payouts when staff win is bigger in the USA than the UK, therefore the lawyers take on cases more in the USA than UK. I speak form own experience when I went to Tribunal against Pret, but I withdrew when my dad died. I had no legal help as no-one was interested to take it on, due to the small payouts if I’d won.
And the recent scandal of a staff trapped in a walk-in freezer, leading to a ยฃ800,000 fine down from ยฃ1.6 million as Pret pled guilty early on. There’s a separate civil claim, but knowing Pret, they probably already settled out of court and had the staff sign a NDA as we don’t hear anything anymore.
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I was contacted as I often am by Pret staff who leak issues to me that I leak to the press. One such contact was after Pret for the 2. time in 2022 delayed paying staff under dodgy reasons. I completely forgot at the time that Pret did that before, in around 2012 when I worked at Pret. I even went around to my colleagues offering to lend them money as some became panicked to not be able to pay bills. I was a team leader on a bit higher pay and had saving. LITTLE did I know that this was NOT a payroll mistake, but can see now that this is a pattern.
And this was under former CEO Clive Schlee, the “Ronald McDonald” clown of Pret who’s job it was to fool everyone with a big friendly smiley facade. Almost ALL journalists were in Pret’s pocket believing Pret to be such an ethical company, including the Guardian’s Sarah Butler, who has now woken up since I tag her in or email her with Pret issues.
But Clive Schlee used to follow her on Twitter and she was fooled by him like everybody. I guess he thought that if he as the big cheese of Pret follows certain journalists, he’d flatter them with his following.
And then, little me came along and told a different story of the real Pret.
I WISH I kept the email from 2012 that the payroll staff sent to all shops apologizing and even saying something like โI never felt so sick to my stomachโ close to vomiting to have forgotten or made a mistake to pay THOUSANDS of already low-wage workers!
And this reflects on shop managers who always cheat towards the end of a quarter to get more bonus. They cheat especially with staff hours. EVERY week I had to check my pay if I was paid the correct hours worked. I had to constantly go to my managers shop after shop that they forgot an hour here or two hours there. This is NOT a mistake! Do this every week to several staff and you see how it adds up. It’s another form of wage theft hard to prove as they claim to have “forgotte” to pay the hour here and there.
I had a spreadsheet at home and noted down how long I worked to the 15 minutes! Many don’t do that and don’t realise how they are cheated out of days, even weeks of the amount hours over years. Pret also like to keep the first week wages worked when people leave. When you start at Pret, your first pay comes after week two. They did that to me keeping a week’s pay, but I noticed only a year later.
Pret keep staff so busy and burnt-out that staff have no nerve or strength to 1. check their hours and 2. chase after it. Again, scumbags of a company!
To my knowledge from own experience in 2012-ish and then via the contact of TWO pay delays within a few months, this is now the THIRD time Pret โborrowโ money from staff! This happens close to the end of the quarter where the higher up execs get their brownie points which later translates into millions in bonus. The more money they save towards the quarter, the more bonus they get. These scumbags!
I vividly remember the panic of some team members who lived from pay ceck to pay check hving bills tp pay and/or kids to feed, and me going around to offer money. I was so naive thinking it was a one-off genuine mistake! Absolute scumbags Pret are! And I say it bluntly, Pano Christou is mis-managing Pret big time. He has NO excuse to mishandle so many issues as he’s been with Pret over 20 years. But to me it’s just evidence how bad they really are and it now shows what I’ve been writing since 2018. Pressure, scandals (customer deaths & injuries) and crisis (pandemic, cost of living) always reveals how incapable, even careless and arrogant Pret are.
They got away with customer deaths, they feel invincible now. But price hikes are never forgiven by people. When it comes to money, everybody screams!
Part of the DM I received and emailed CEO Pano Christou with angry words, openly copying journalists in including Sarah Butler from the Guardian who then reported on it:
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Sarah Butler then investigated further and wrote the following article:
I’m not kidding, but i literally teared up when I saw Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha give Pret a stern rebuke on her Instagram account. And she has half-a-million followers on Instagram, and more followers on Twitter/X than Pret UK and Pret USA combined have. She has a voice!
She ranted about how it is unacceptable for Pret to cut wages during the pandemic of already low wage staff during “war” time (pandemic). She made a mistake though saying that staff who get ยฃ8.91 an hour (in 2021) and Pret wanting to cut more. What happened was that as Pret always pay about 50p above the minimum wage to appear generous in the public, staff earned more than minimum wage but the pay was then cut down TO ยฃ8.91 national minimum wage (2021). She just mis-spoke there. But the point stands. And her question if the big guns of Pret also take a cut, I knew they wouldn’t take a cut, but it has been answered a year later by above Sarah Butler’s article.
I gave it its own YouTube slide and watch it sometimes when I despair at “famous” or influential people being silent on how Pret behave, especially when it comes to staff.
She was the only celebrity who spoke out! I watched this again today and still keep tearing up *sniff sniff*! I’m not a hugger by nature but could give her a big hug through the screen! Such mic-drop rebuke! To have such a prominent voice on the side of low-wage staff is nothing short of powerful and kind! ๐ช ๐
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And of course now in 2024 CEO bonus is ยฃ5 million and upwards, plus year on year pay-rise. CEO Pano Christou who’s with Pret over 20 years and was Clive Schlee’s right-hand man, has as his MAIN priority to double Pret in size by 2026 as instructed by the owners, the second richest family in Germany, the Reimanns under JAB Holdings in tax-haven Luxembourg.
But get ready, in April 2024 the government will raise minimum wage again and Pret will again make a big PR move to claim to be so generous to raise wages again. They never mention that they have no choice but ti raise the pay as they’d be breaking the law paying under minimum wage. Give it until March before you see a massive PR stint again.
Christou wants to build his name and legacy as having expanded Pret worldwide while having his head in the sand that Pret’s gone downhill so much so more negative press reports. Also 74% of customers on Trustpilot (1&2 star reviews combined) disapprove of Pret on a variety of issues, many having sworn to never set foot inside Pret again.
The following review I screenshot is from mid 2023 and is just one of many. For people with visual impairment, quote, it starts of in all caps:
“PLEASE DO NOT USE THE APP, it logs you out and locks your banking information for the subscription”.
End of quote.
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Or data breach, quote:
“Mishandling Customer Data
I had a subscription for 3 months over the summer. The products are poor quality & not as described. The customer service also rude. Due to the poor service I asked Pret to delete my data in accordance with GDPR right to be forgotten. An organisation has 30 days to comply. After 6 weeks Pret still not deleted my data even after a warning from the ICO. Avoid this company like the plague!”
End of quote.
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And many more along those lines.
And knowing Pret, they might recruit people to start writing positive reviews to get the numbers up.
It’s also alleged that Pret had someone change the Wikipedia entry to delete the original founder Jeffrey Hyman’s name from Wikipedia.
Last but not least, and even though it’s an older article, but I’m proud to have worked with Mike Powell on two of his BBC reports. He is the only journalist for a major news putlet who mentioned my blog.
Also, see my recentOpen Letter to Tristan Tate, former Pret Barista and Brother of Andrew Tate after he private messaged me.
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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 โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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 be aware that the player shows 0:00 as WordPress sometimes “messes” with my blog. Just press play or go straight to the interview on Adam’s page).
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Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Upfront to the WordPress staff who always check my blog posts when I publish a new one. I’m not sure if it is WordPress policy to pass info on to current and former company heads, in this case Pret as I got a certain “visitor” again after I wrote a crucial post. WordPress already moved me into the “adult” section where they only move porn sites to. This is censorship after I believe Pret must have reported me, but I write under free speech and don’t lie, backed up with tons of evidence.
So, if a WordPress staff serves as a “snitch” to Pret, please talk to your line manager and check if this is appropriate or WordPress policy.
Thanks.
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I don’t check Pret staff reviews anymore as much like I used to, maybe once a month. But a recent review from a shop General Manager (GM) got my attention. This GM mentioned among some negative feedback on Pret that CEO Pano Christou is “exceptionally kind”.
Part quote from the review:
“Cons: Expectation to achieve work that is physically impossible, in a timeline that, when broken down, is mathematically impossible. Intense pressure leading to breaking codes and regulations is a common occurrence, and those with stronger ethics end up working up to 100 hours/wk.
Advice to Management: Instead of only setting targets and expectations, map out how they could be achieved. Consider why most management leaves the company they love so much, due to burnout.
With that said, Pano is exceptionally kind and I’m sure he would fix all these issues with more competent direct subordinates.”
And this is where most workers, even managers when young go wrong and are brainwashed. It is the CHIEF, the head of the company who is the problem and who sets the tone for the company. Pano decides on pay cuts and cut workers’ pay, benefits and paid breaks so he can get a pay-rise and millions in bonus.
And why did this GM not approve of Pano and give him the green light (check mark). This GM refrained from giving an approval or disapproval. Very weird review. Confused GM? But it shows how Pano continues to charm and blind workers as well as journalists.
It is Pano who works in Pret since over 20 years, who implements and continues an abusive mystery shopper scheme and sets unrealistic targets for his bosses and shareholders to be happy.
That’s exactly the mistake many staff make, they are unhappy with how Pret are, how they are treated etc. but they don’t attribute this to the top leadership, because like former CEO Clive Schlee, current CEO Pano speaks “kindly” to staff in head office or when they do their rounds visiting shops.
And that’s exactly their game. It’s like a “bad cop / good cop” situation. It’s all a tactic, a game where the CEO separates himself from the harsh OPs (Operations/Area Managers) who are tasked to set high targets that GMs find unrealistic to reach.
CEO Pano, like Clive before him, is the “good cop” and let’s lower ranked staff be the bad cop, but all of these execs have a common goal: make as much money as possible on the backs of low-wage workers and customers.
But THE FISH STINKS FROM ITS HEAD!
In June 2017 Pret held a one or two week seminar only for leaders and managers at the prestigious Barbican Centre on customer service. I speak about this seminar extensively on my podcast in Part 01, Part 02, Part 03 and Part 04 of labeling issues and allergy trial. All episodes will open in a new window.
I speak about this seminar as it was held a year after the first customer, Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died, but NO mention whatsoever on allergens or labeling. No training or retraining. NOTHING.
All we were “taught” was how to continue to “slime” customers and love-bomb them to gain and retain them and then bring back to the shops what we “learnt” (which was nothing new). In hindsight it seemed to me that the development team came up with this seminar where we learnt nothing new to use their annual budget. When departments don’t use their annual budget, it often gets cut for the next annual period.
That seminar seemed to me like a complete waste of time and funds. It could/should have been used to invite scientists and allergy experts in light of the first customer’s death and several injured to teach us on allergens and labeling. But no, Pret went ahead with a meaningless seminar in the expensive Barbican rooms.
The title of the seminar was called “Be Kind – Be Honest – Be Generous”. A VERY typical Pret brainwash which turns out to always be the complete opposite.
I explain on my 4 part podcast episodes above that Pret are far from kind when they did NOTHING after TWO customers died and several got injured, as well as having bullied me DURING bereavement and the systemic bullying culture that exists in Pret.
And being honest? I know from own experience how dishonest Pret are and expose some of their lies on social media.
And being generous? Let’s see how generous Pret are.
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The email invite to the seminar where I got my slot to go:
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Also, calling Pret’s training center an “academy” I felt always as a joke. In my training times in head office, I rarely learnt anything and had to train myself for years in shops searching and reading up on issues myself.
Pret’s generosity
On 18. March 2020 just before the first lockdown when the whole world was still in the air about Covid, Pret made a typical PR announcement to be giving free coffees and 50% food rebates to all NHS workers every day. All they need to do is show their NHS badge and they get a free coffee and cheaper food.
Great. Everyone went crazy on Pret’s “generosity”. And as Pret are Pret, they often make these charity announcements to cover up what they’re doing in the background to staff or other dodgy things.
The very next morning 19. March 2020 I wake up to a DM of a desperate staff that CEO Pano Christou sent an email to all shops and head office with the announcement that Pret will be cutting hours, and with it pay.
DM:
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Pret used the NHS not only for PR but as a smokescreen to hide their nasty cuts to staff. very generous!
Full CEO email here: To NHS Employees. Already low-wage Pret workers basically PAID for the NHS PR stunt.
There was only ONE NHS staff who was disgusted at this after I started swamping Twitter with this:
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Further on Pret’s “kindness, honesty and generosity”
Again, on 1st June 2022, just before the Queen’s Platinum Jubliee I woke up to a new DM by a different Pret staff reaching out to me that Pret for the 2. time this year delayed paying staff under supposedly “payroll errors”.
I immediately emailed CEO Pano Christou but openly copying in the press including Sarah Butler from the Guardian, other journalists and BFAWU President Ian Hodson who, Sarah Butler then interviewed.
Again, Pret cleverly used an occasion, just like with the NHS freebies, where the public is distracted with the Queen’s celebrations AND knowing that on bank holiday Monday all banks are closed.
Part of the DM:
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Pret’s announcement where if staff need money they can get it but with a fee which Pret supposedly would pay:
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On Instagram a staff member announced to be sabotaging Pret now, others called sick as an indirect strike action. Food and service quality would be compromised:
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Is it “exceptionally kind” of Pano to cut pay, use the pay cuts to fund NHS freebies etc. etc.?
WAKE UP EMPLOYEES!
People may ask why Pret would delay pay on purpose, simple, CEO Pano behaves exactly like a manager in Pret does. They have weekly, monthly, but most importantly quarterly targets to reach. June was moving to the end of the 2. quarter. And pay delays with constantly managers “forgetting” to pay hours helps shops and management to reach targets and get higher bonuses.
Pret settled TWICE in New York having had to repay 4000 workers close to a million dollars each time for WAGE THEFT!
Pret was also amongst UK companies being caught to pay some staff UNDER the legally required minimum wage and were then named and shamed by the UK Government.
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Or a few years ago under Clive Schlee, customers started to boycott Pret after finding out that Pret wanted to get young people to get free labour, using the apprenticeship short-term experience to not pay them except via “free food”.
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So, after I emailed Pet’s CEO copying in Sarah Butler and the press and Sarah wrote the following article, but it got drowned out by the Jubilee celebrations.
And Sarah Butler dug a little further later after I mentioned on my blog and podcast that Pano Christou received ยฃ300K pay in 2020 but didn’t spill the beans on how much he got in 2021 and 2022 after cutting wages. Then in August 2022 she reported the following:
So, in 2021 Pano got a ยฃ100K pay-rise and ยฃ4million in bonus while cutting as much as possible from low-wage staff who carried Pret through a dangerous pandemic. In 2020 Pano already got paid more than the UK Prime Minister and about the same as US President Biden. Since 2021 Pano overtook that further.
I could go on and on and on regarding Pret’s “kindness, honesty and generosity” by posting countless staff reviews on Pret’s wage theft, pay delay, missing pay as well as my own experience. But I want to end with my all-time favourite former customer tweet which I could not have put into better words!
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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 witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret. 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.
Please also see the MEDIA page for which press articles and Pret “charity” announcements I influenced.
. Thank you for reading/listening.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org
Interview:
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Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Two podcast episodes on my “forecast” in April that Pret’s CEO Pano Christou most likely either got the same pay from 2020 (ยฃ300K) or higher, plus the millions in bonus. And today’s episode after yesterday’s Guardian article.
The CEO didn’t spill the beans in April’s Times article what he got paid in 2021 and what he will get in 2022 because if he got the same or less, he would have announced it like Pret always announce their “charity” quickly. He only shared what his pay was in 2020.
Yesterday the news emerged that Pano Christou got a 27% payrise (ยฃ400K) and ยฃ4.2 million in bonus after cutting low-wage staff’s pay, benefits, paid breaks and other perks.
And before any office worker complains that you don’t get paid breaks, well, work for 8, 10, 12+ hours in excruciating heat, noise, stress, rude customers, mystery shopper fear management, bullying managers etc. and then we can talk again. Until then, keep sitting on your butt and browse through Linkedin.
Today’s podcast episode (may have to click on link underneath if WordPress refuses to post the player here):
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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 witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret. 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.
Please also see the MEDIA page for which press articles and Pret “charity” announcements I influenced.
. Thank you for reading/listening.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org
Interview:
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Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
… not imagining he’d just last a little over 1 day!
Upfront: Don’t try this at home unless you have nothing left to lose.
This is the short version, the full recipe is scattered throughout this website.
You need the following:
A close family member or friend died, in traumatic circumstances. You learnt of the death in the worst way possible, preferably in an ice-cold impersonal email while you were alone in the morning. What would make your anger and trauma a bit worse is that your close family member or friend has already been cremated before you even knew they died.
You work in a company that targets you from the get go and tries to get rid of you because bereaved employees are an inconvenience to the company, especially if it’s a fast-food and low-wage employer. You have no choice but to work as you have lost the little savings you had with all the costs that came up and with no financial support whatsoever. You try to distract yourself from the emotional war-zone you were thrust into.
You raise grievance after grievance in utter trauma and anxiety, not realizing that the HR department is in on the bullying and is as toxic as their unlabelled allergen products.
After a year of unsuccessfully trying to get help with this HR department, you contact the CEO of the company, also not realizing he is the catalyst for this toxic environment. But as his camouflage is to present the firm as an ethical, happy and caring company Ronald McDonald style. So, the “pret-ense” begins (sorry, couldn’t help it!). They start paying for therapy sessions to appear supportive, but the bullying continues and turns very subtle compared to the open aggression before. The CEO is stuck with continuing to play this game to hold up the PR[et] facade. He puts the Head of HR on your case who offers you three Non Disclosure Agreements, which you decline. You decline a forth NDA after you withdraw the Tribunal claim as your dad died during the preparation for the case.
You can’t afford a lawyer. You break down after having lost your brother, your father, your job that wasn’t worth your time anyway. And you lost your sense of self-worth after being gaslit, manipulated and bullied by multi-millionaires. You have completely lost your marbles but not your sense for right and wrong. The adrenaline of your anger keeps you going!
The losses and what the company does to you is stuff for a shooting spree after having lost your marbles, but you go on an emailing spree instead. You take the patronizing name that the coward CEO labelled you with and put a “dot org” behind it, and you start writing. As this coward CEO prefers to label you his “late night girl” instead of labelling his food to save a life, you also post on social media and copy in any journalist you can find. You get reported to the social media platforms, you get censored, shadow banned, blocked, shut down by platforms. You also get cussed out, laughed at, called names by loyal customers … because the company has no balls to confront you or put right what they’ve done. Loyal customers, who hate having their illusions crushed about this company, and mainstream journalists who suck up to the company are bystanders. They’re indifferent towards fast-food workers and are NOT independent journalists. They make free advertisement for this company as their judgement is blurred at best and corrupt at worst.
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So, here’s my “How To Card” for Pret’s #RecipeBook on how to chase 3 multi-millionaire coward CEOs off Twitter.
On 01. July 2019 in the early hours I tweeted to the press that Clive Schlee, then CEO of Pret, was “retiring”. As Schlee couldn’t be bothered to announce this himself but suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, I did him the favour to announce it for him. Schlee was congratulated to his retirement by someone on Twitter and he responded to the Tweet while neglecting to respond to a serious health and safety concern by a customer who tweeted to Schlee TWICE.
Customer Tweets to Schlee on 29. June 2019: (Schlee responded AFTER I tweeted to the press forcing Pret to announce Schlee’s “retirement”)
Then the Tweet congratulating Schlee to his retirement and Schlee’s response. And no, Schlee’s Twitter wasn’t busy, he wasn’t flooded with Tweets that he could have missed TWO customer Tweets from the day before:
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And then I thought I’d offer my services for free again and announce his retirement to the press so he doesn’t need to sweat and work so hard himself:
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The press then started tweeting this “news” after first confirming with Pret’s HQ, and after that Pret and Schlee made their official announcement themselves. I also wrote blog posts about Schlee’s “retirement” that day (while he started to hide as Non-Executive Director behind the scenes) and linked to UK Managing Director turned COO Pano Christou’s Twitter handle. The COO role did not exist before the Pret scandals and JAB took over. And it doesn’t exist now. It was just a stepping stone for Christou to become CEO. As Pret read my blog, that day on 01. July 2021 Christou deleted his Twitter account and retrieved to Linkedin.
But I had the honour that he blocked me before he ran off. I like it when these people block me because that way I can see that they’re read my Tweets/Blog! As I am blacklisted on social media and on Twitter at times shadow banned (censored, Tweets hidden) I can sometimes not tell if people got my Tweets, but when someone blocks me, I KNOW they’ve read my stuff! ๐
Clive Schlee didn’t and Pret doesn’t block me as I’m sure they want to collect any evidence should I raise a Tribunal claim again which can be done within 3 years and which was granted to me by the first preliminary Judge, or should Pret sue me. Be my guest!
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On July 1st 2019 Pret’s Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account and a few weeks later another “Pano Christou” from Canada took that handle.
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2. Clive Schlee – The Friendly “Ronald McDonald” of Pret A Manger
After confronting him on Twitter and all the shadow bans that didn’t work, I continued my “late night girl” shifts. On a side note, his ยฃ1000 announcement to all staff came on the day he found out about the “dot org” I’ve put behind his patronizing label. Clive Schlee’s Twitter account was shut down in July 2020. I don’t know the exact July date, but days before the 7th July 2020 his account was still there, I checked regularly as customers kept tweeting to him with questions, unaware he isn’t the CEO anymore. He still had the CEO “label” on his account while Christou was already CEO since September 2019. Clive Schlee also prematurely let Pano Christou take over Glassdoor Reviews as CEO in July 2019 while Christou wasn’t CEO yet, after a customer pointed out on Twitter of Schlee’s poor ratings on Glassdoor.
Yes, that’s Pret, very consistently blaming downwards and letting the lower position of COO take responsibility and play CEO on Glassdoor. ๐
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30. June 2019 a day before “retirement” announcement:
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12. July 2019 Pano Christou already placed on Glassdoor even while not officially CEO yet:
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July 2020:
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3. The Third Clown – Co-(re)-founder of Pret A Manger, founder and CEO of itsu: Julian Metcalfe who’s foot-in-mouth disease is even worse than his buddy Clive Schlee’s!
This gives me the greatest pleasure to have chased a net worth ยฃ215million CEO off Twitter who doesn’t blink twice in wanting thousands to die so he can keep accumulating his Millions.
I just let my YouTube slide do the explaining and bask in my Schadenfreude! Get the popcorn out, put the kettle on and enjoy! And never forget you have a VOICE to speak and see that these millionaires are just people who let their entitlement get the better of them, and in time always show their rotten core. And the only difference between you and them is that their toilet paper is just a little more expensive than yours!
ยปAnd when your sun goes down you’ll know, you’re like everybody else you know.ยซโ Whitey
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UPDATE 2022
My small exposรฉ on Metcalfe’s connections to the Royal Family and a questionable connection etc.: Julian Metcalfe Family Line.
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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 โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
(Please be aware that the player shows 0:00 but just press play)
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Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Two customers dead. Several injured. The suicide of an Assistant Manager. Pret’s โnaturalโ claim that went down the drains, but most still don’t know about. I was targeted and bullied during bereavement in the worst time of my life.
Keep going Pret, you’re doing well when it comes to numbers, money and such…
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Former CEO, current non-executive director Clive Schlee’s legacy
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Current CEO Pano Christou
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The following slides are a testimony of a front-line shop employee who worked to exhaustion for minimum wage.
And while having worked for minimum wage I lost my brother, and then I became an inconvenience for a company like Pret A Manger.
But courage has “rage” in it, and my rage has been worth it.
So, you “investigative” journalists, you “friends”, stay safe and take care.
“Video” killed the Pret A Manger.
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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 โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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. 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.
. Thank you for reading/listening.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org
Interview:
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Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Just when I thought nothing more straining than cancelling a trip to see family and new lock-down restrictions in Europe can wear me out, this happens:
Quote: ยปJulian Metcalfe, the founder of Pret and Itsu, said another lockdown would be ‘impossible’, adding: ‘Society will not recover if we do it again to save a few thousand lives of very old or vulnerable people.ยซ
And I thought former Pret CEO Clive Schlee’s foot-in-mouth disease was already bad enough! This tops it! So, Pret’s had it all, they even managed to have not 1 but 2 customers die, the WORST event that can happen in a business, and they got away with it. They feel invincible. And now having words visible that, who knows, may have been spoken out behind closed doors in Pret, itsu etc.
After a public outcry, not heard since customer deaths came to light, Pret has now distanced themselves from Pret RE-founder Julian Metcalfe.
I don’t want to post all the Tweets of countless people here, but just what itsu staff say about Metcalfe himself and what Pret A Manger staff say about Pret.
But here’s Pret’s repeated copy & paste response to the outcry that started last night (28.10.2020):
Some customers believe the few sentences and come to Pret’s defense, but people aren’t stupid.
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And I want to point out again to all the many people on social media who settle for three sentences from Pret’s social media team, that what Julian Metcalfe said to the press, and with it to the public, is JUST visible now to what itsu, Pret A Manger and many, many other big chains have acted upon all along.
A little crash course on the very close and lasting connection of Pret and itsu, and why Metcalfe’s words are not surprising. Pret may distance themselves from Metcalfe, but Pret, itsu, Metcalfe, former CEO Clive Schlee, current CEO Pano Christou … are a close-knit group of friends and business people working towards one goal only: profit and making shareholders happy.
Please do your homework because I am tired of linking everything to every word I post!
Clive Schlee is very close friends with Julian Metcalfe and got the Pret CEO job from him 18 odd years ago. Clive Schlee owns half of itsu and is on the board of directors of itsu. Schlee also remains in the background of Pret as a non-executive director, being new CEO Pano Christou’s mentor. Clive Schlee snuck out almost quietly from Pret as the CEO, after he ignored multiple warnings on allergen labelling and did NOTHING after TWO customers died. Only when the deaths became public did he slowly start to label. This is how much a life, let alone more lives are worth for Pret.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s mum is in disbelief on Pret’s lack of action, from about0:20 seconds on:
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Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted the news of Clive Schlee’s retirement to the press. Schlee’s Twitter account was closed this year in July 2020.
Pano Christou is “hiding” on Linkedin where mostly Caucasian, upper middle class business people mingle, and where he has his “yes-men” applauding him in everything he posts. Customers and low-wage workers don’t complain on Linkedin, so he’s safe there from public confrontation.
Pret can distance themselves all they want, what Julian Metcalfe has said publicly, Pret has lived and is living practically!
Pret was one of THE FIRST to cut employee hours in March just before lock-down.
Pret used NHS workers for PR and a smokescreen, giving freebies and 50% rebates to NHS staff and the very next day announced to staff that their hours will be cut. Pret diverted via the NHS freebie PR, but they got caught and reverted until a few months later when close to 3000 people were fired.
Pret was one of THE first high-street food chain to open shops DURING lock-down in April 2020.
Pret was THE ONLY food place open (at least) on Stansted airport in July 2020. Only Boots and WH Smiths were open, all the other brands incl. Burger King, Starbucks, hell even itsu remained closed! Here the video:
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Here’s a quality Tweet that reaches back into Julian Metcalfe’s history. Them Tweets don’t come like that every day. Someone did their homework.
And here are some of the many Pret A Manger staff reviews. A more comprehensive but not exhaustive list of Pret staff raising their voice on review sites regarding systemic bullying and exploitation I listed on “Caught in the Act at Pret A Manger“.
And his third Tweet is going straight back to HIS priorities:
And then later after he retweeted some of my Tweets in response to my criticism of him, he tweets this and continues to show his true face, blaming the public:
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Before he deleted his Twitter account again he also confirmed several times that former Pret CEO Clive Schlee (who owns half of itsu & is still in the background of Pret) and Pret are his “dear friends”:
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I responded to above Tweet that Clive was so heart broken that he did NOT act whatsoever on TWO customer deaths until this became public.
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I wrote a blog post on 31.10.2020 on Metcalfe’s Tweets as he deleted his Twitter account after less than being 24 hours on Twitter. I made screenshots because I anticipated him deleting Tweets.
I listened to a BBC interview of Metcalfe where by his own admission he said (at about 19:18 or with the interviewer’s question from about 18:40 on) that he wasn’t a good employee and that he was quite disobedient.
Need to be registered/logged in to the BBC to hear the interview. He plays stupid a lot in that interview, but I hope his low-wage staff who are exploited for his net worth of ยฃ210 million, hear this his words and show him the finger. I lost even further respect for Metcalfe. Spoiled, privileged prat!
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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. 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.
Thank you for reading/listening.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org Interview:
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
has withdrawn from public social media incl. deleting his Twitter account in July 2020 after I kept confronting him. He withdrew from press interviews and remains in the background of Pret as a non-executive director and mentor of Pano Christou. I call Christou Panocchio as he lied in an Evening Standard interview and beyond. Clive will be back to tell his sorry story after I kept and keep confronting his lack of leadership and steering Pret full steam ahead into an iceberg.
Clive, I will never stop addressing your lack of leadership which shows in your prodigy Panocchio, until you own up to your greed and exploiting those who are the true heroes of this economy.
Clive, you, HR and the OPs/Group Managers picked on the wrong person. You got away with customers having died and getting injured. You get away with amazing people being exploited and bullied. You just about got away from allowing me to get bullied after I buried my brother. But the conversation of Pret’s toxic ways will go beyond me raising it. Keep working on your story, and others will tell theirs.
And this is your legacy, Schlee. And mainstream media suck up to you because they are as weak as you are. We low-wage workers are vulnerable, but we ain’t weak.
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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 โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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. 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. Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
How 2 executives got away with 2 customer deaths and what lessons Pret has NOT learned!
Vegetarians and Vegans eat Meat in Pret
Mislabelling continues
Just when you think nothing more ridiculous can happen in Pret, this happens:
Link to Tweet from 27.11.2019 – I responded to SCLFT that the real @Pret killed two people in Britain! And side note: a baguette for $8!!! No wonder former CEO Clive Schlee pocketed ยฃ30 million on bonus alone! But he left a legacy behind, where low-wage staff speak out bluntly in anonymity on Glassdoor & Co.
Link OOPS!!! Quickly get into DM to get out of the public eye! Too late!
And the gift that keeps on giving!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the land of MILK & HONEY!
UPDATE:10. Dec. 2019 – Pret USA again. And the usual response by the U.S. Twitter staff is very relaxed. People in the U.S. cannot DM Pret’s USA Twitter account. It’s like the U.S. side of Pret is cut off from the UK.
The issue of mislabelled products in Pret A Manger continues. It is 2019. Two customers have died, a third incidence was nearly fatal, and several in hospital from unlabelled allergen in Pret products, numerous customer warnings ignored before and even after deaths. Only after the deaths became public has Pret SLOWLY started to label products. But mislabelling products as well as placing products behind wrong labels continues.
Some customers who complain on Twitter assume that this is a one-off or rare problem…
NOTE:
A little reminder that Pret was cleared in New York in 2016 —>>> where a customer sued Pret after he suffered an allergic reaction ALSO to an unlabelled sesame product, the same allergen that Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died of from a London shop in 2016! Even though Pret won the case it did not give them any sense of urgency or a wake-up call to start labelling products! ONLY when customer deaths became public did Pret slowly implement labelling!
After I tweeted to Tom Rache & Julia Ramil with this blog entry I got a full shadow ban from Twitter, probably via Pret reporting me, which got my Tweets hidden for 24 hours and can only be viewed with direct link or via my Tweets and Replies page. This is to silence the systemic issue of mislabelling due to under-staffing:
For the sake of time and not wanting to clutter my page with endless examples, here are just a few visuals that show that the problem of wrongly labelled products in Pret is a VERY common problem and continues to this day!
The main reason for this, from my experience having worked at Pret, is chronic under-staffing of low-paid workers who are often not trained well. They are pressured, rushed and pushed so much, they work in often cramped areas, that these mistakes keep happening.
What is so beyond believe to me is, that in the UK even with two customer deaths, a third nearly fatal, numerous customer warnings ignored before AND even after people died… Pret goes full steam ahead, doing business as usual and gets away with it. In the U.S. it would hail a storm of class action lawsuits and the leadership would face prison! In the UK they put small business owners (often Indian or other with non-British background) in prison after 1 death! And rightly so, but Pret is too big, too rich and in my opinion, too white! Sorry, but I left my PC days behind long time ago!
In the UK people remain lulled in and want to believe the fairy tale that is Pret A Manger.
Vegetarians, or people, who for religious reasons don’t eat pork, keep settling for an apology and cheap freebies from Pret.
So, here’s a visual again on how common this problem is. Just few of the many examples. I had to fix this issue countless times as a Team Leader. In my 10 years in Pret from 2008 to the end of 2017, I had to fix this on a weekly basis, sometimes several times a day!
The other issue also is that, even though the standard is in place to not mix items on one tray, due to lack of staff, rushed for time to not lose Mystery Shopper bonus, staff bake Mozzarella Croissants on previously used Ham Croissant Trays. They even sometimes put both together on one tray to safe time and washing up. This also happens with the sweet croissants and the danger of traces of nuts touching other items. Staff are not supposed to do this, but because they often even work overtime without pay, they stop caring. I had to deal with this many times as well, retrain, redo etc. etc. etc…… And again, I don’t even blame the low-paid worker here, because when they don’t finish their production in time, they are fear managed and scared to lose their job. So, anyone assuming that at times the Veggie product did not touch the Meat product, or wasn’t baked in the “juice” of the Ham or Meat product, think again!
People are fooled with the facade of Pret. But I emphasize again that Pret A Manger is a FACTORY behind the scenes, there is NOTHING “Lovingly made” as their stickers boast! There’s no time nor room for Love in Pret A Manger!
These visuals are only a selection, there is much more, and not everyone goes on Twitter with pictures:
After TWENTY-NINE YEARS… This is 2015. Link to Tweet
This one is particularly misleading, because the Ham Croissant does NOT have a slice of tomato on top like the Mozzarella & Tomato Croissant has, to distinguish each other additionally to the labelling. So, in a rush the Hot Chef, or whoever put the croissants in the oven, added the tomato by mistake. OR they didn’t realize this was the Ham croissant, as in a frozen state they can look similar, although the Ham has black pepper on top, and the Mozzarella Croissant white cheese sprinkles. But again, due to rushing, these mistakes happen fast. From 2017:
A more extensive list on this problem also with soups wrongly labelled >>> “Ongoing Issues, hospitalization, mislabelling…” but I stopped collecting in Dec. 2018 as this is ridiculous!
Again this is due to UNDERSTAFFED Shops, rushed staff, and at times staff don’t understand English well, placing products behind wrong labels.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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. 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. Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview
NOTE:Since WordPress changed to a new editing system, some features don’t work anymore. For the audio interview, please visit my MEDIA page where the old player still works.
ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
The following blog entry is an open letter to Lila Tighilt Warren, development manager of Pret A Manger head office in London, United Kingdom. This blog post is also converted into an automated voice reading. Please ignore the pronunciation of “manger” which need to get updated in automated voice programs to roughly “monjair” or roughly as Pret A Monjay.
Audio version (Note: Lila’s name is pronounced “Leela”):
my below “letter” is to a Development Manager from Pret A Manger’s HQ who was used by Pret’s toxic HR department to gaslight me. My full story with Pret is at the very bottom in an interview on the audio player. In a nutshell, I was targeted and bullied during traumatic bereavement by higher up Managers under the watchful eye of Pret’s HR department. After the first year of bereavement and the bullying and HR not helping me (I didn’t know at the time that HR was heavily involved!), I wrote an email to then CEO Clive Schlee, and ONLY THEN did some support start (like Pret paying for some counselling sessions).
But the bullying continued, this time in more subtle forms which I explain in detail in the audio player below. Traumatized already from my brother’s death and how it all unfolded, I became ill with emailing (again, I explain in the interview) after I received the news of my brother’s death via a cold email.
I kept raising issues of bullying, raised grievances including a grievance against a People Business Partner from HR (who since 2019 now is not in Pret anymore). Of course the grievances went nowhere and Pret just substantiated bits and bobs here and there to make it appear they cared, but they never really addressed the bullying. And Clive Schlee later patronized me calling me his “late night girl” after I sent late night emails to Pret and the whole world it seemed …
As I didn’t stop raising issues, being in trauma etc. and STILL working extremely well under horrendous circumstances, Pret offered me money, NDAs if I resign, never go to court and never speak about my ordeal. I declined the money. And I wouldn’t stop raising issues as I’ve worked my heart out for this company to just be bullied once my grief got in their way.
Pret finally pulled the last “Ace” out of their sleeve and put Lila Warren on my case. She is NOT working for HR but is a Training and Development Manager. She was tasked to hold a disciplinary hearing against me and told me in the meeting that she also had a brother who died alone in his apartment, wasn’t found for days and was not recognizable as his corpse disintegrated already, just like with my brother. My brother died alone in his flat, was not found for approximately 6 days, his body disintegrating and then they just cremated him without supposedly finding us first.
As I was so traumatized from everything, added with the bullying, I bought the lie that Lila dished out. I recently confronted her on Linkedin and after my confrontation she changed her name from “Lila Warren” to “Lila W.” not realizing that her Linkedin can still be found via Google as search of “Lila Warren Pret”. Lila was extremely manipulative and a very good liar! She’s also a NLP practitioner, a Hypnotherapist and now a Psychotherapist. I am still recovering not knowing if I can ever even trust my own gut anymore.
When I confronted Lila publicly on her Linkedin post, I was blocked of course, and then Lila changed her Linkedin handle from “Lila Warren” to “Lila W” but she still can be found there via google search “lila warren pret linkedin”. I was also contacted by a family member of Lila with subtle threats. Lila herself said to me in 2017 just before Pret fired me that I was making “enemies” (within Pret leadership) as I kept raising issues of bullying.
I share all this to show how utterly perverse and corrupt Pret A Manger is that got away with TWO customers having died, with their smiley and happy facade. I am not afraid of anybody or anything. I’m not doing anything wrong, and the days of Pret’s fear management and fearing them is over! The public still believe Pret is an ethical and caring company. They need to believe what they WANT to believe.
A quote by Friedrich Nietzsche: “Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” End of quote.
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My full story will make a little more sense after hearing my interview. And this is my final “letter” to Lila, which I sent to her on Linkedin after I did extensive research if her dead brother “Zain” actually existed.
My open letter to Lila Warren:
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Dear Lila,
I hope you are well during this pandemic.
I am still alive and physically well, although mentally ruined and broken after what I went through with my brother’s death and what Pret put me through, including you gaslighting me.
As you may know, I wrote several articles about what you have done. But in case you missed it, here are two of several posts:
I can’t speak French and did a Google translate, maybe you could correct any wrong translation:
ยปHe left with praise, with thunderous applause, with looks bathed in tears too. The tears of all those who had gathered in town hall from the 15th-16th, yesterday, to say goodbye to Kader Tighilt, chief of the sports department, who died, at 53, of a terrible disease. The elected officials were there, from left and right, Samia Ghali, Patrick Mennucci, Daniel Sperling, Nora Prรฉziosi, Jean-Marc Coppola, Henri Jibrayel, Clรฉment Yana, Jean-Marc Corteggiani, the representative of the prefect also, of the Algerian consul . Kader belonged to the 15th-16th family but he was not from any chapel, subservient to any party, except that of the Republic.
His open, tolerant and always humorous speech had allowed him to gather. Among elected officials and at the bistro. Kader was an all-terrain personality. That is why there were 300 of them crowding in the garden of Villa Laplane where the elected officials rubbed shoulders with athletes, everyday friends and family, of course. A minute of silence launched the tribute ceremony, which was followed by the hymn, symbol of this Republic which he defended as a treasure.
His young son Faris recalled him in a speech full of courage, dignity and emotion: “He was a great man who was going to leave an immense void. We can be proud of the fight he fought. ” Samia Ghali, with whom Kader Tighilt worked, portrayed a man who, beyond ideas, will have marked the town hall with his personality:
“Your voice which surprised us at the Bar des Bons Vivants or at the Rรฉgali will be greatly missed.” Nearly an hour of sincere tribute to a man who has spent a too short life cultivating friendship. And to make the young disadvantaged in the northern districts smile. Kader Tighilt was buried in the Vaudrans cemetery, abandoning loved ones torn apart by grief, who nevertheless know that his image and his spirit will remain present in Saint-Louis, La Viste, at the Bar des Bons Vivants and in the town hall of the sector.
Where, without Kader, life will not be quite as before.ยซ
End of translation.
Kader was a prominent figure in Marseille where you’re from.
And a Tweet about a tribute after his death, from the French translated into English, quote: “Kader TIGHILT, A Republican tribute organized by the Town Hall of the 15th and 16th of Marseille” End of quote.
Lila, remember the picture you had on your Pret work-phone? You had NO picture whatsoever on your privatephone number, which is now your counselling number, the painted picture of which you said is a self-portrait by your brother Zain, whom you said died in his apartment and wasn’t found for days, just like my brother. I found the painted picture on Facebook profile of Samir Tighilt, who has this black and white photo of Kader Tighilt on it. Is Samir another brother? I can’t find Zain, though!
And not to be mistaken for another Tighilt family, you, your brother Morad and your Husband/family Warren show up on Samir Tighilt’s friend-list. There is no “Zain” to be found, though!
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I searched for Zain Tighilt and after many Facebook profiles and articles found Kader Tighilt.
You had a painted self-portrait of your “brother Zain” on your work phone, but no picture whatsoever on your private phone. I always wondered about this, why you had no photo or picture on your private phone, but a personal picture (“Zain’s self-portrait”) on your work phone. Well, I think it’s clear now, why. How confused your family would have been if you had that same picture on your private phone avatar. I believed you that you had a brother who died similarly to how my brother died, you were very convincing! As I wrote already in the other posts that you are either a very good liar because of the way you described everything regarding death and your “brother’s” body, which I know from my brother’s death. If you lied, that makes you a bad person. But if this is true that you indeed had a brother named Zain who died alone in his apartment and wasn’t found for days, like my brother, then this makes you even worse than a bad person.
I am still looking for a word to describe how this feels what Pret has done, and what you have done, I can’t find a word to describe this. The only word I can find is: perversion. It is perverse what you have done, claiming that you had a brother who died alone in his apartment and was not found for days, just like my brother. How perverse is a lie like this?
Maybe Kader’s middle name is Zain? But also looking at the date when Kader died and the date you gave me about “Zain’s” death, the dates don’t match. It’s all very confusing isn’t it? But it all makes sense in hindsight with your education, and being a Hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner and now Psychotherapist. You apply psychology the wrong way. You used psychology to manipulate, gaslight and plainly abuse because you couldn’t stand up to Pret.
I cannot find Lila Warren on the National Hypnotherapy Society website anymore. At the bottom of this page in a short “AI” audio clip converted from a text I wrote, I explain why this might be.
I mean, it is quiet something that Pret had to go through such length, and you to such abyss to get me out of the company. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got a pay-rise and are exempt from being made redundant. Was it worth though? People can google your name and it will lead to my blog and other writings about what you have done. Anyone who wants to check out your counselling service will land on my blog. Was it worth it? Things always catch up with people, even in years to come. And I keep raising awareness on Pret’s systemic bullying culture. But now from the outside. Did you read those reviews on Head Office? Have you left a review on Pret yet? I remember some of your words about top leadership …
Lila, do you know that I have a hard time now trusting people who are friendly and nice? Every-time someone is kind and interested in my story or life, I get paranoid thinking that Pret sent a “spy” to gaslight me again. You should not be a counsellor of any type! You are not fit to call yourself any type of counsellor. And sooner or later your abusive way will come to light with others as well.
You might be protected and shielded by family, Pret A Manger and the counselling bodies you’re under. But no amount of money or “education” will shield you from exposure. My blog will always be a thorn in your and Pret’s side.
With all respect and condolences, but it doesn’t matter to me anymore if you had a brother named Zain. But I care that the public knows how toxic, abusive, corrupt, exploitative and plain cowardly Pret A Manger is. And I will keep cracking Pret’s shiny and smiley facade. Pret can paint over the cracks like colouring a rotten egg with all the charity and freebie marketing. I will keep cracking it with a pen and paper, and a computer keyboard to expose the foul stench from its core!
I care that the public and staff, many of whom are brainwashed and desperate for a job like I was, know how Pret under Clive Schlee, Pano Christou and HR David Carter etc. victimize hardworking employees who call out wrong-doing. And how you, with your privilege and education have neither backbone nor values to do the right thing. You need to live with decisions of disgrace and horrific disrespect. You allowed Pret to step, and decided yourself to step on dignity. That’s on you Lila.
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Audio
“AI” audio clip of a text I wrote on another issue, mentioning part of what Lila did to me:
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The page Lila Warren sent to me in a passive-aggressive way, which I mention in above audio clip:
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UPDATE end of february 2024
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Lila Warren announced on Linkedin end of February 2024 that she now works for Five Guys. She worked at Pret for 20+ years, and it looks like she’s been made redundent. This means Pret are cutting finances further now in HQ as CEO Pano Christou wants to build his legacy to expand worldwide and double in size by 2026 as instructed by owners JAB Holdings.
Mark my words, I have a sense that after he achieved that and pocket in more millions in bonus and will boast about his legacy in the media, he might also quit. These people are stuck in the Pret mindset, and I’m sure Lila and other longtime HQ staff will struggle to find foot in new companies, their mindset and office politics! Good on them.
I’m always perplex how people who grew up in entitled families can afford to go to university just to end up in head offices of large corporations! If you go to university or college, at least become an entrepreneur, artist, writer, inventor, or anything to do your own thing instead of wasting your life with large, spineless corporates.
These uninspiring people hop from corprate brand to corporate brand. And they look down on the foot-soldiers who make it happen. Suit yourself, you never inspired me.
To any new reader, my full story with Pret A Manger and what Lila Warren was involved in I share at the bottom audio player in an interview on a podcast based in California.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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. 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 and mentioned by theBBC. Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
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ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
On 19.03.2020 in the morning I was contacted by a Pret employee that Pret wanted to cut all staff hours 25%, down to 16 hours. I was sent the email that Pano Christou sent to all shops and HQ (75B) that morning.
Some numbers:
A front-line shop staff member gets a little over minimum wage of ยฃ8.65 per hour
+ยฃ1 bonus IF the Mystery Shopper is happy (I posted a FULL Mystery Shopper report with the 32 micromanaging questions that Pret tasks Mystery Shoppers to test each shop on every week. If ONE staff member makes a mistake or doesn’t smile enough, the WHOLE shop team is penalized and don’t get the bonus!).
Even if a a staff member receives ยฃ8.65 they have to work double and triple for it. Pret has NO choice to pay a little more than minimum wage and give a few perks, as no-one would work at Pret for the backbreaking, micromanaging and stressful work they’re expected to do, often in a bullying environment.
Former CEO Clive Schlee’s BONUS from the JAB Holdings / Reimann purchase in 2018: ยฃ30 million
Second richest family in Germany, Reimann via tax-haven Luxembourg JAB Holdings worth โฌ33 BILLION (ยฃ28 / $35 billion).
Do the math of ยฃ8.65 minus 25% minus hours.
I immediately wrote blog posts and went on Twitter.
The Guardian and other press started publishing and slowly customers and readers started to speak out against Pret’s decision.
What was so vile about this is that Pret started giving free coffees and 50% rebates on food to all NHS staff the day before on 18.03.2020. Pret made a big announcement, did press releases and sent emails to shops boasting about their “charity”.
This typical Pret PR and smokescreen had many speechless and angry.
A day later, after bad press and public outcry Pret reversed the pay-cut until May when they review this again.
On 27.03.2020, CEO Pano Christou was interviewed by the Evening Standard and even lied to the Standard, quote: โLast week Christou said immediately that he will pay his staff 100% of their salaries at least until the end of April.โ
Immediately? You mean โimmediatelyโ after the public outcry and bad press about the 25% cut, huh?!
First email from Pano Christou on 19.03.2020 announcing the pay-cut. I was asked by the Pret staff who sent this email to me as screenshots to not publish the screenshot but write a transcript. The second letter of the pay-cut reversal is as a screenshot, sent by another staff member.
Recap of numbers again:
Front-line Pret staff: ยฃ8.65 p/h (+ยฃ1 bonus not guaranteed – no bonus when on holiday/furlough and sick).
This is UNDER ยฃ15.000 a year! Subtract 25% AND subtract hours, announced DURING the Coronavirus pandemic AND NHS freebies!
Pret’s turnover 2019: ยฃ710 million
Former CEO Clive Schlee’s BONUS (not to mention Pano Christou & share holders …) ยฃ30 million
In moments of crisis we are challenged on our values and it is important we continue to support each other. People are at the heart of Pret. That’s why our biggest priority as we navigate the impact of Coronavirus is to protect our people. Pret is a wonderful company because it is full of amazingly talented, passionate, kind and generous people. I call it my second home after spending 20 years of my life with such wonderful people who have helped to shape me as a leader, father and a human being.
There are many people losing their jobs from other companies, especially in our sector. Our aim is not lose anyone, because we believe that we are all in this together.
Unfortunately we cannot ignore the fact that our sales in the UK have dropped by 75% and we believe this will be our new reality for several weeks. Therefore we have to reduce our costs somehow.
We are prioritising cuts in all areas that don’t impact our people directly, however it’s vital we also address pay. This means we need to ask every single Pret employee to take a 25% reduction in their contracted hours (and therefore pay). I know this is a huge ask and it breaks my heart to have to get to this point. I know it will hit people hard, but if we can achieve this, we can avoid job losses at this time. The Global Leadership Team and Board will be taking bigger cuts
We anticipate that our current reduction in sales will continue for at least 3 months and therefore the reduction in hours and associated pay will need to cover this period. If sales improve before then or we receive any further assistance from the government, nothing would make me happier than to be able to reverse this decision more quickly. I will keep you informed.
It goes without saying that if anyone would like to reduce their hours even further (perhaps for personal reasons) or take any period of unpaid absence or sabbatical (even if they haven’t been as Pret for long) then please let the HR team know.
It is important that every single Manager speaks to every single member of their team by Friday 12 noon (20th March) to explain this. There will be lots of questions and following this note the HR team will be sending a list of actions that need to be taken, a letter that needs to be given to every person, and answers to the questions you and your teams may have.
To help our Pret people at this difficult time, we are setting up a Coronavirus Hardship Fund. More details to follow early next week. If any employee needs assistance due to the reduction in their hours then they must ask us for help and we will do all we can to support.
I am fully aware of the impact this change has on us all and I thank you for your understanding.
Take care of yourself and each other.
Pano
After public pressure and bad press:
Second letter of the decision to reverse pay-cut until May:
To all Pret employees:
JOIN A UNION!
And know that even ONE voice / blog / Tweet / email … COUNTS!
Even if things improve or you leave Pret, join a Union! When you stay, Pret will find ways AGAIN to try and cut hours!
These two Unions are very active and the best informed on Pret issues:
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Slideshow can be paused
The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in โ Pret Staff Complaints.
And extensive accounts of Pret’s systemic bullying behind the facade, also witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act at Pret.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
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.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Below post I wrote on 26. March 2020 after being informed by a Pret staff about Pret wanting to cut staff hours/pay DURING NHS freebie give-aways! On 31. March 2020 I was informed again by a Pret staff that Pret wants some staff to work in kitchens again DURING furlough under pretense again of giving freebies to NHS and homeless people. In reality, apart from the typical PR stunt, Pret wants staff to be in place once the Government lifts the ban of closed businesses.
.
UPDATE:17. April 2020 on Instagram and Twitter critical voices about Pret opening 10 shops:
above screenshot from @hannahwebs is the ONLY NHS employee outcry I have seen on Social Media! Other people raise their voices regarding the freebies PR for the NHS while Pret tried to cut staff pay and hours! But Hannah is the only NHS worker who spoke out! It is devastating that most only care about their freebies, but not for low-paid Pret staff! My plea to NHS employees at the bottom of this page.
Below is the email by Pano Christou, CEO of Pret A Manger who announced the 25% pay-cut for all employees and 16 hour contracts for front-line staff.
I was sent his email early morning on 19.03.2020 when he sent the email to all shops and HQ. I immediately wrote a blog entry and went on Twitter. Next day after a public outcry and bad press, Pret reversed the decision and announced to go back to 100% pay … BUT said that “we need to continually review our position”:
As a little reminder or introduction for new readers, Pret that was a multi-million pound company until 2018 was sold to the second richest family of Germany Reimann under tax-haven Luxembourg based firm JAB Holdings.
Pret now is a multi-BILLION pound company. The Reimann family are worth โฌ33 BILLION, but Pret decided to steal from low-wage workers to keep stuffing Billionaires.
Some concerned people responded on social media, including a NHS staff’s disgust at Pret’s PR stunt of giving NHS staff freebies and at the same time cutting own staff pay and hours.
19. March 2020 Twitter DM from one of several Pret staff:
I was sent a message on 19.03.2020 early morning from a Pret employee about Pret cutting 25% of pay to all staff. Another Pret worker sent me the email that CEO Pano Christou sent to all UK shops and HQ.
I was asked to not post the screenshot of the email but to write a transcript.
In the midst of giving freebies and 50% rebates to NHS workers and cranking up the PR machine again, Pret cuts 25% pay and hours of their low paid staff. Most now work 16 hours per week and get 25% cut on top of it, and are pressured to take holidays and unpaid leave. Do the math of ยฃ8.65 per hour how much they get at the end of the week!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the PR[et] Machine!
I also wrote a blog entry today: “Pret A Clowns” addressing Pano Christou and Clive Schlee as they read my blog. No more sweet-talk!
FULL Pano Christou’s email from early morning 19.03.2020 regarding pay and hour cuts the day after NHS freebie & rebate announcements! NHS workers & customers were distracted with the freebie smokescreen! But staff sent me the CEO’s email early morning & I passed it on to the press ans social media. Note: 75B is Pret’s HQ address in London, Victoria 75B Bressden Place.
The email:
Dear 75B and UK Shops
In moments of crisis we are challenged on our values and it is important we continue to support each other. People are at the heart of Pret. That’s why our biggest priority as we navigate the impact of Coronavirus is to protect our people. Pret is a wonderful company because it is full of amazingly talented, passionate, kind and generous people. I call it my second home after spending 20 years of my life with such wonderful people who have helped to shape me as a leader, father and a human being.
There are many people losing their jobs from other companies, especially in our sector. Our aim is not lose anyone, because we believe that we are all in this together.
Unfortunately we cannot ignore the fact that our sales in the UK have dropped by 75% and we believe this will be our new reality for several weeks. Therefore we have to reduce our costs somehow.
We are prioritising cuts in all areas that don’t impact our people directly, however it’s vital we also address pay. This means we need to ask every single Pret employee to take a 25% reduction in their contracted hours (and therefore pay). I know this is a huge ask and it breaks my heart to have to get to this point. I know it will hit people hard, but if we can achieve this, we can avoid job losses at this time. The Global Leadership Team and Board will be taking bigger cuts
We anticipate that our current reduction in sales will continue for at least 3 months and therefore the reduction in hours and associated pay will need to cover this period. If sales improve before then or we receive any further assistance from the government, nothing would make me happier than to be able to reverse this decision more quickly. I will keep you informed.
It goes without saying that if anyone would like to reduce their hours even further (perhaps for personal reasons) or take any period of unpaid absence or sabbatical (even if they haven’t been as Pret for long) then please let the HR team know.
It is important that every single Manager speaks to every single member of their team by Friday 12 noon (20th March) to explain this. There will be lots of questions and following this note the HR team will be sending a list of actions that need to be taken, a letter that needs to be given to every person, and answers to the questions you and your teams may have.
To help our Pret people at this difficult time, we are setting up a Coronavirus Hardship Fund. More details to follow early next week. If any employee needs assistance due to the reduction in their hours then they must ask us for help and we will do all we can to support.
I am fully aware of the impact this change has on us all and I thank you for your understanding.
Take care of yourself and each other.
Pano
I don’t want to comment too much as I have been writing and tweeting all day on this. But a few things.
Pano writes, quote: โif we can achieve this, we can avoid job losses at this timeโ.
First of all, how about stopping to give freebies to NHS workers and stop the PR, and take care of your own workers! I am all for supporting medical staff, service persons etc. but at THIS time where the virus is spreading and staff don’t know how to survive, Pret cranks up the PR machine again and low-wage workers are paying for it!
And about the job losses, this is the typical Pret manipulation to scare workers into pay-cuts. Pret needs staff more than they want to admit. If Pret was to fire workers and business comes back up again, they would have to employ masses of people and train them fast. Cutting pay and cutting hours, keeping workers will have Pret back on its feet in no time.
Pano: โThe Global Leadership Team and Board will be taking bigger cuts.โ
The Global Leadership Team and Board earn 5 and 6-digit figures #FFS!!! I expect them to make HUGE cuts and keep the workforce at their pay level at the LEAST!
CEO Dan Price has cut his salary for his workers and his company Gravity Pay is thriving ever since! In 2015 Dan cut his $1.1 million annual pay down to $70K to raise the minimum wage for ALL his staff to $70K. And now his company is pulling together without him having to beg! He will leave a solid legacy behind, built on foundations of truth, integrity and life-changing actions. Dan said he has never regretted it and is happier than ever before. He has a healthy and thriving work environment and many CEOs are following his example! He will not be remembered for the sweet-talk that brings no change for the better and for which Pret is so known for within its own workforce.
Nothing more to say except, shame on Pret for squeezing their low-paid employees even more now, while pretending to sacrifice so much on top levels. Whatever cuts the top management makes on their own pay, they still have millions in the bank! And giving freebies to NHS workers at the same time is a smokescreen, while staff don’t know how to pay the rent! Absolute shame! Pret did the same recently with making plant-based milks free, and then raising the coffee prices at the same time. People always pay, one way or another!
Again, NHS workers DESERVE every bit of a break and support and love we can give them, absolutely! But Pret disregards their own yet again for the sake of PR and to polish up their cracked public image! Shame!
After public pressure and bad press Pret reversed the pay cut back to 100% pay and full 35 hour contracted hours, except for those who already signed a new 16 hour contract! But the reversion will be reviewed on an “ongoing basis” after April!
Quote from Pret:
“We will always put our people first and maintain as many hours and as much pay we can afford”. – Pret A Manger under Pano Christou (and Clive Schlee) under JAB Holdings / Reimann worth โฌ33 Billion. “As much as we can afford”.
“We always put our people first”.
Really?
PR stunt giving NHS staff freebies
While cutting Pret staff PAY of 25% & hours down to 16 hours
Putting measures in place for customers 2B safe
NO care for staff in close proximity to each other
My plea to NHS employees
Apart from your joy of getting free coffees, 50% off food and food donations, praising Pret as an ethical company: why don’t you stand up for low-wage Pret employees who pay the price for Pret’s marketing, while top executives earn millions and JAB Holdings sit on billions!
Don’t let Hannah be the only NHS staff to have spoken out after NHS workers received freebies. 50% rebates and food donations!
Pret will try to cut pay and hours again, even when business is back to normal. I know Pret, they use any-and everything to avoid paying staff. Two class-action suits have been settled in New York when Pret had to repay 4000 workers!
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in โ Pret Staff Complaints. And extensive accounts of Pret’s systemic bullying behind the facade, also witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act at Pret.
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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 โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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. 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. Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Clive Schlee, I know you are not the CEO anymore, even though you still present yourself on Twitter as such. You are a non-executive director and I’m sure pretty active in the background. Thank you for your visit yesterday to my blog, I hope you found something useful to inspire REAL change, not just sweet-talk.
Pano Christou, as you have deleted your Twitter account on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted Clive’s retirement news to the press as you didn’t see the need to inform them yourself (you’re welcome!) I write yet again another blog post.
You have done your typical PR stunt yet again with much success of course. It is very commendable to give free coffees and 50% rebate on food to NHS workers. Everyone agrees, it’s very nice. And NHS staff, Fire Brigade, indeed all carers deserve every break they can get! But …
I tweeted yesterday already to NHS staff that Pret workers are paying for this “generosity” by being sent home unpaid due to low business, as I know how you work. And of course I got shadow banned (censored, Tweets hidden from public view and search).
And then you dropped a bombshell this morning in an email to the shops.
I now have messages coming in on various channels that you even go further in your generosity. This morning you emailed shops wanting all your staff to agree to take 25% pay cuts for up to 3 months or more, or to take unpaid leave.
You already want to force staff to take holidays above their current holiday allowance, and they will then lose their holidays for next year.
You promised your employees you will send DAILY communications to shops on developments in Pret during this terrible virus crisis. Yet, in your typical Pret-style of breaking promises, so far you’ve only sent 2 pieces of information to shops:
That cutlery now has to be moved behind the counter and regular sanitizing, hand-washing etc. (Of course you bowed to pressure from the public on this, whereas before you didn’t give a toss!)
Your typical self-idolizing PR stunt, sending press releases on freebies and 50% rebate for NHS workers. And Pret workers are speechless how they themselves are disregarded! One Pret staff called this your typical “PR machine”. Other staff are cursing you out, I can’t repeat here!
I wrote in my other blog post 2 days ago about your Vague Statement and non-specific sweet-talk on precautions during the Coronavirus pandemic. I wrote that Clive should cut his ยฃ30 million bonus and give to the workers, so they can pay their rent and not end up on the street and have tax payers pick up the bill!
A courageous act CEO Dan Price has done for his workers, and his company is thriving ever since! Dan Price cut his $1.1 million annual pay down to $70K to raise the minimum wage for ALL his staff to $70K. He will leave a solid legacy behind, built on foundations of truth, integrity and life-changing actions. Dan said he has never regretted it and is happier than ever before. He has healthy and thriving employees! He will not be remembered for the bullshit sweet-talk that brings no change for the better and for which Pret is so known for within its own workforce.
And you have the Pret Foundation Trust that helps homeless people, don’t you? But we former and current Pret staff know it’s mostly for PR! Where is your help, Pano?! Wanting staff to agree to a pay cut of 25% and go on forced holiday which they will then lose the following year? Really?
And if they refuse to take holidays they are bullied by managers and sent into the kitchen or do extra cleaning work. Yes, that does sound very Pret-like! And you sit on millions of pounds and your JAB bosses sit on billions.
You, Pano Chrsitou and all the shareholders could also cut your Million pound salaries and bonuses, to actually do the right thing “naturally”, as Pret always claimed. But you just send little emails about cutlery and your NHS PR stunt. And your low-wage workers are speechless and scared shit-less for their lives, jobs and homes!
“It’s what makes Pret, Pret”
Your staff who are sending these infos to me are disheartened and disgusted at your lack of care and your greed. And I am disgusted that you Pano even use your own child, to manipulate your employees to cut their own needs, so you can continue in your millionaire lifestyle and keep feeding your billionaire bosses Reimann / JAB Holdings!
You know what this reminds me of? Pret having used Lila Warren who supposedly had a brother who died alone in his apartment and wasn’t found for days, just like my brother! Lila then gaslighting and manipulating me until I got fired. If Lila’s story is true or not is not my concern anymore.
But for you Pano, to use your own child to gaslight and manipulate workers to take cuts is utterly perverse and disgusting! You write to shops that your child has asthma and is crying all day not wanting to go to school! Two years ago you emailed back a customer, who complained about the lack of labelling and their fear about allergens after the two customers died. You wrote to the customer that your child has food allergies, and that you know how it is!
I really hope your children have no illnesses and allergies, I even hope you are lying like you all did with Lila Warren. But to produce crocodile tears to make low-wage employees feel sorry for you, using your children’s health condition is utterly disgusting and disturbing! You should be more than ashamed of yourself, Pano! You should have the decency and backbone to not only refrain from using your children in any way to manipulate workers to feel bad, but you should pay them a living wage, protect their jobs, give up some of your own millions and get to work!
You “advise” staff to sign a 25% pay cut, and yet your Managers are pressuring, manipulating and gaslighting workers to sign. Pano, you said that all of you in management are also taking a pay cut, sorry, but you still have MILLIONS left even after a pay cut! You manipulate your staff by saying that other companies are firing people. You say that you don’t fire them but you gaslight them with this “generosity” of a 25% cut!
I have one sentence for Pret A Manger low-wage workers: PRET NEEDS YOU MORE THAN YOU NEED THEM! WAKE UP!
And for Pret leadership, you should be ashamed as millionaires to “ask” low-wage staff via pressuring and manipulating Managers, to sign a 25% pay-cut and use next years holiday allowance for this year, while giving free coffees and 50% rebates to NHS staff whose job are secure and have FULL wages! You should be deeply and utterly ashamed Pano Christou, Clive Schlee, and the rest of you greedy share holders! And using freebies to NHS workers for your PR, and then letting low-wage staff foot the bill is beyond disgusting! You should be ashamed!
The only good thing about all this is, as your hard working people are even in deeper financial and existential despair now, more and more are joining unions, and they are coming for you!ย ๐ย โ That’s a real smile not even the Mystery Shopper could have gotten out of me!
JavaScript required to view slideshow. May not work on mobile devices without Wifi.
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Slideshow can be paused
The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in โ Pret Staff Complaints.
And extensive accounts of Pret’s systemic bullying behind the facade, also witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act at Pret.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
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.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
1. Mind #FreeSpeech when you think about reporting me to get censored, as I will post again & again. I will not be silenced if my post gets hidden!
2. What EXACTLY is #PretAManger doing, what SPECIFIC things will Pano put in place not only to protect customers, but staff who work without protection. What is Pano doing regarding financial loss to staff who are sent home due to low business?
Maybe Clive Schlee can give from his ยฃ30 Million bonus & Pano can cut his own Million ยฃ bonus & actually do what Pret always boasts about by โdoing the right thing naturallyโ!
Learn from @DanPriceSeattle who puts his money where his mouth is & is VERY specific.
Pret & Pano Christou, please stop giving vague sweet-talk & be specific as @RishiSunak has been very specific today with numbers & solid aid to businesses and people. Stop brainwashing staff to believe you are helping when in reality they suffer even more now!
First customer complaints start coming in on Facebook.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
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.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
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.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
What Managers and Corporate employees, including Head Office staff, say about Pret throughout the years and in various cities/countries (only few of many reviews and comments):
LinkBlogspot –ย 4 years after Bridgepoint took over. LinkHQ London 2017HQ London 2019Leader Review on abusive Area Manager – Shop Managers crying in the office.
I could go and on with countless more reviews along those lines, but I want to put only one more that broke my heart. I was actually crying when I read this because it triggered so much pain I’ve been through and seen colleagues go through. For a longer, but not exhaustive list of staff reviews and complains: >>>
Manager review London, October 2019 Manager Review 2014 – 6 years after Bridgepoint took over.So, who are the 3 Vice Men?
Pano Christupido (Current Fool who deleted his Twitter account after my blog entry on Clive Schlee’s “retirement” in July 2019)
Clive Leech (Former Fool who, with full steam ahead ran the Titanic into an iceberg, but continues to present himself as CEO of Pret. Pscht! He’s in denial!)
David Cartel (The Fixer – he’s out and about on behalf of the CEO putting out fires and seeing to it that hardworking people get fired)
Pano Christo (left), Clive Schlee
David Carter, HR Fixer
ยปAny damn fool can run Pret!ยซ
Oh no, those are not my words! Those are the words of the wife of Pret A Manger’s now former CEO Clive Schlee, who “retired” in September 2019!
My wife always would say, ‘any damn fool can run Pret‘.ยซ
From a 2016 Guardian interview
The problem with companies that have fools running it is, they may endanger their clients’ and employees’ lives. God forbid customers number 1. die, number 2. the company doesn’t do anything until these fatalities become public, and 3. get away with it!
And God forbid that this company gets away with not one, but two customer deaths, a third nearly fatal allergy reaction, and numerous hospitalized …
And God forbid even further that staff struggle and suffer, some dying, even by suicide.
Of course who would think that a CEO would sneak out quietly into early retirement, remaining a non-executive Director in the background, working on fixing his reputation with some more charity work and finally reaching out to low-paid workers?
What company would have a fool running its business and ruin a lot of people’s lives?
Good thing the facade of Pret is still in tact! Let the free coffees flow to put the public back to sleep!
That’s all that counts these days. Cheap freebies people settle for.
So, ยปany damn fool can run Pret!ยซ. Sure. And certainly any damn fool can ruin it!
I want to say again that Pret A Manger is NOT what they portray to the public!Linkย “the general public view of this company is very far off from the truth”Link Manager Review
Legacy of a Fool:ย
Glassdoor July 2019
One of my many articles about and to Clive Schlee, one of which I dedicate to his farewell gift:Foot-In-Mouth Disease at Pret A Manger
New CEO, Pano Christou about whom I write about in: Under New Management. But Clive Schlee remains in the background as Non-executive Director pulling the strings under JAB Holdings.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview: ยฉ2019 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Day 22 of >>>ย Away in Pret A Manger Ad-VENT Calendar
Clive Schlee’s โLate Night Girl’sโ Writings.
For any new reader, my full story in an interview at the bottom of this page on the audio player.
For a comprehensive list of writings about Pret A Manger, please visit:
>>> The Most Comprehensive Website on Pret A Manger
Since Clive Schlee, now former CEO of Pret labelled me his “late night girl”, I return the favour and call him Clive Leech. This label was inspired by a recent staff review, plus all the many other reviews and my experience of Pret being exploitative and sucking the life-blood out of employees. Review: >>> Leechesย <<<
I said in early 2019 to a Union person that Clive Schlee will probably sneak out of Pret. And days ago I wrote to another person that he is very quiet lately and either on a Sabbatical or leaving.
My blog entry on the 01. July 2019:
I tweeted to the press this morning, and of course now they have “breaking” news ๐ He since has now tweeted his announcement himself AFTER I contacted the press and they “broke” the news.
~10am Tweet before the press started waking up:
Link
To Clive Schlee,
unfortunately your early retirement you chose not to announce and I had to tweet again for the press to pick this up. Sure, Pano Christou will take over, having come from McDonald’s management (nobody’s perfect!) he will continue where you left off. Pano became UK Managing Director after Andrew Walker “left”. Andrew Walker then became EAT’s CEO which is now swallowed by JAB via Pret. What a cold cold business! It may be good for the press to properly investigate on the Andrew Walker issue!
Pano will do some changes of course, but from his emails years ago, he wasn’t straight forward with me either, and I’m afraid Pret will continue business as usual with a lot of the chaos behind the scenes.
I’m sure you’ve done a lot of good things and many will sing your praises. But for me and many others this PR[et] facade and the reality behind the scenes has been a terrible โrideโ and the worst, traumatic experience I have ever had in any workplace! Only my brother’s untimely death supersedes this trauma in an even greater nightmare!
I always shuddered when as a shop Team Leader, working in the office doing the ordering or whatever I had to do, when an email from HQ came in. And that email was sent out naming, blaming and shaming shops that had poor scoring in Health & Safety or other issues. This fear management, also to your low-paid workers via Mystery Shoppers, was always a terrible experience to read and witness.
And you think you can just sneak out of Pret, not taking any responsibility?
I worked in the catering industry all my life, in 3 countries. I never shied away from hard work and was self-sufficient since my teenage years. I lived and worked with integrity, principle and care. And what I received in return was humiliation, trauma, and discrimination. You need to understand that Pret A Manger under your leadership has almost destroyed my life, literally almost killed me!
I survived Pret, which I experienced as toxic, corrupt and exploitative.
You can count yourself very lucky, Mr. Schlee, that my mental health is too low to see through to court without a lawyer and my father having died in the middle of preparation for the Tribunal claim I had to withdraw!
And this is YOUR legacy, sir. And I can never write any other story-line, as much as I miss my old life of writing with encouragement and positivity, having given the benefit of the doubt to you one too many times. Those days are gone when it comes to Pret A Manger!
I’m sure by now with all my writings that you have read (you still haven’t blocked me on Twitter as you collect for a potential court case or to ruin my future further! Pano Christou blocked me and today he closed his @christoupano account!), but I’m sure by now you have learned of amazing CEOs like Guy Singh-Watson from Riverford, or Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani who revolutionize the business world. I hope you learn from them, not just for the typical Pret facade and fake smile you are so known for. But a full turn around to make a true difference in the LIVES of HUMAN BEINGS that labour and give their sweat, blood and tears so that you can count your millions!
I am proud to have declined four settlement offers in turn for silence! I have many regrets, but not this one!
Wishing you good luck?
I wish that you would for once take responsibility, sir!
I wish that you would be taken to court for what people have suffered under you!
Regards,
Your โLate Night Girlโ – 01. July 2019
Clive Schlee’s Legacy:
Glassdoor July 2019
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My second article in the Scottish Left Review. A link to my first article can be found at the bottom of this page. An update on developments in Pret A Manger and a connection between some reactions to my blog.
โLate Night Girlโ reports on her continuing campaign for fairness and justice at Pret-A-Manger
As I continue to recuperate and come to terms with everything that happened in my personal life and from work since my last article (โOn the frontline: crushed by corporate capitalist cultureโ, Scottish Left Review, May/June 2019), a lot has happened in Pret. I continue to write blog posts about my Pret experience, other staff continue to contact me telling me of their experiences, and on Twitter customers still complain about ongoing mislabelling of food, even after two customers have died. The first customer, 15-year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, died from unlabelled allergen in a baguette, and the second person, mother of five Celia Marsh, died from dairy traces in a non-dairy product.
Apart from getting some normal and much expected criticism, I also receive a lot of public positive feedback from customers/readers on Twitter as well as encouraging messages in private. Every single day at least one person is new to my writings which still astonishes me after writing for over a year! I can also see the statistics on my website and how it has increased since last year. People are astonished and surprised to learn about Pret, as Pret has been successful in putting on a happy and ethical front for years.
I have uploaded to my website reviews of staff working at Pret that are to be found on Glassdoor, Indeed, and other social media. I have also kept an eye on Pret worldwide developments including lawsuits, in particular two over wages which Pret settled in New York, repaying 4,000 workers. This has shown that it is much harder for workers in Britain to obtain justice through the courts compared to in the US, where Pret is constantly sued by staff, customers and other organisations on various issues.
Iโm also of the opinion that Iโm continually disappointed by the ongoing unprofessional conduct of Pret and its leadership. On 30 June 2019, I checked casually on Pret CEO, Clive Schleeโs Twitter feed and found a tweet by a person to Schlee wishing him well on his retirement. But no official announcement had been made on this issue. Schlee responded to the well-wisher on the same day yet did not respond to two tweets by a customer on 29 June 2019 regarding hellish work conditions in a shop, where the air conditioning was broken for a prolonged time. On 1 July 2019 after I wrote a blog entry on Schleeโs โlegacyโ given that on Glassdoor only 44% of staff recommended working at Pret and only 50% of staff endorsed him, I tweeted to the press about Schleeโs retirement. After my tweet, the first tweets started to flood in about his retirement after Pretโs HQ was contacted and confirmed the news. Also, Pret and then Schlee circulated the official announcements of his retirement set for September 2019. Within an hour a person tweeted a response to Pret that the new CEO, Pano Christou, has his work cut out for him, as Pret and Schlee have poor Glassdoor reviews.
In mid-July, Christou was placed on Glassdoor, even though Schleeโs official retirement was set for September. On 20 September 2019, Pret then tweeted a last Tweet bidding farewell to Schlee , who is still present (at the time of writing in mid-October) on Twitter as the CEO of Pret. Also on 1 July 2019, Christou deleted his Twitter account after I made a link to it on my blog entry on Schleeโs legacy. I was blocked by Christou though I am not being blocked by Pret and Schlee as I believe they both keep my Tweets for a potential court case after I withdrew my Tribunal claimย when my dad died and I went deeper into trauma and was not able to finance a lawyer.ย It was notable that there were very few tweet responses, โlikesโ and retweets for this announcement compared to the previous year.
Why, you might ask, is all of this necessary and important? It is to show how arrogant, insensitive and unprofessional the leadership of Pret appears to be when it does not even officially announce Schleeโs retirement (at 60) and while he remains as a non-executive director in the background. There is also the clumsiness of Schleeโs responding to a well-wisher before giving an official retirement announcement and the seeming indifference, portrayed in the lack of action, after two customers died and before that news became โpublicโ. Overall, I believe, this story shows how when private equity takes over and with Pret expanding into having a huge high street presence, the company shows no ethical understanding of its responsibility to customers and employees alike.
I can only speculate on why Schlee finally stepped down. But it is hard not to think that the poor handling of customer deaths, my blog confronting Pret and Schlee, the negative staff reviews that I collated and posted, and the various lawsuits have not somehow tipped the scales against him.
After what Pret put me through in bullying and gaslighting me, I still struggle with anger and post-traumatic behaviour so that I have difficulties trusting people when I am contacted by former and current Pret staff and others. I have written the most comprehensive website on Pret-A-Manger from a behind the scenes look on various subjects on which the companyย falls short. The disappointment and anger I feel is heightened by that fact that Pret is neither responding to me nor confronting me legally after all the fear management, threats, bullying, tricks and traps they put me through.
This shows what impact one very active and dedicated person on social media can have. If this was to be replicated many times over, I believe that โimpactโ could turn into โinfluenceโ. Pret certainly will not change from the inside and from the top for the better by its own volition. The hope is that this outside pressure and Pret being the perfect example of striving for ever increasing profits backfiring in the long run will create a โperfect stormโ. Sure, Schlee, Christou and the other top leaders will have rich retirements and enjoy the fruits of the low-wage workersโ labour they employed. But the legacy they leave behind is not something I would want to swap for โ and not for any amount of money.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
Thank you for reading/listening. Interview: ยฉ2019 expret.org Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited. ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Pret A Manger’s new fool can’t smile enough, it seems!
Clive Schlee, since September 2019 former CEO of Pret A Manger, has passed the buck to Pano Christou on Glassdoor in July 2019 already. Christou is the former UK Managing Director, and since JAB purchased Pret, the new role of COO was then filled by Christou. Before Chirstou took over as UK Managing Director in 2012, Andrew Walker filled this role before leaving Pret and via several companies became the CEO of EAT., which is now purchased by JAB via Pret. The official take-over of Christou as the new CEO of Pret was announced on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted to the press about Schlee’s retirement. Christou’s take-over was announced for now September 2019, but Schlee being who he is, not taking responsibility, he let Christou take over on Glassdoor in July to avoid further poor scoring for Mr. Schlee.
So, Schlee quickly let Christou take over on Glassdoor!
July 2019 Glassdoor score:
So, what’s up CEOs? Your annual internal questionnaire for staff to fill in their reviews on Pret is often tweaked by shop managers to win prices, making Pret look good. But it doesn’t work on real review sites, where bullied staff tell it like it is!
Staff dare to speak out anonymously, and more will speak out openly soon.
I am proud to inspire former and current Pret workers to speak out in any way they are ready to speak out.
And I will not give up until there are independent investigations into staff suicides!
If you are interested, my website is filled with my and others’ story. But in a nutshell, I’ve put together into a few minutes on YouTube the emotional labour that staff are forced to work under, no matter if bereaved, depressed, sick etc.:
ยปAny damn fool can run Pret.ยซ
— Wife of Clive Schlee, former CEO of Pret A Manger
ย
Smile, Fool!
Glassdoor
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in โ Pret Staff Complaints.
And extensive accounts of Pret’s systemic bullying behind the facade, also witnessed by customers: Caught in the Act at Pret.
I worked at Pret A Manger for almost 10 years and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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 an article in the Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2019 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Those are the words of the wife of Pret A Manger’s now former CEO Clive Schlee, who “retired” in September 2019! (while remaining as a non-executive director in the background pulling the strings and babysitting the new CEO).
On the question of Pret’s success and how much of it was luck or hard work, the CEO responds:
On a side note, Clive Schlee here continues to say that Pret had “natural” food, even though Pret has been successfully sued for having Glyphosate in the food and having to take the word “natural” off signage and labelling. I write about this in “Pret A Manger – Ready to (ch)eat“.
But this interview is full of @&%!… I can’t believe he keeps getting away with it, and I ask myself what does it take to face the truth away from the delusion?!
The problem with companies that have fools running it is, they may endanger their clients and employees lives. God forbid customers number 1. die, number 2. the company doesn’t do anything until these fatalities become public, and 3. get away with it!
And God forbid that this company gets away with not one, but two customer deaths, a third nearly fatal and numerous hospitalized …
And of course who would think that a CEO would sneak out quietly into early retirement, remaining a non-executive Director in the background, working on fixing his reputation with some more charity work and finally reaching out to low-paid workers?
What company would have a fool running its business and ruining a lot of people’s lives?
Good thing the facade of Pret is still in tact! Let the free coffees flow to put the public back to sleep!
That’s all that counts these days.
So, ยปany damn fool can run Pret!ยซ, and certainly any damn fool can ruin it!
Legacy of a Fool:ย
Glassdoor July 2019
One of my many articles about and to Clive Schlee, one of which I dedicate to his farewell gift:
I continue to ask for INDEPENDENT investigations into staff suicides!
I worked at Pret A Manger for almost 10 years and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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 an article in the Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2019 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
(This is an x-ray of my left middle finger after an accident at work.
I wanted to use this picture, but am still waiting for permission to use,
but maybe I will leave my finger here. More fitting for Pret!)
foot-in-mouth disease The knack of always saying the wrong thing. The expression is both a verbal play on the foot-and-mouth disease that affects livestock and on the expression โto put oneโs foot in oneโs mouth,โ meaning to make a verbal blunder. The latter dates from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The current clichรฉ is much newer, dating from the mid-twentieth century.
I’m sure Clive Schlee, exiting (certainly not exciting!) CEO of Pret A Manger has been advised to lay low, and not spill the beans prematurely regarding internal things on Twitter & Co.
He gives himself away every opportunity he has, it seems. He certainly didn’t expect that his patronizing way in talking to me would end up with a “dot org” behind it.
For any new reader asking what happened? In short, Clive Schlee, pretending that my traumatic late night emailing to Pret was wrong (I also emailed tons of other people), he put his foot in his mouth, belittling me by introducing me to the Director of HR, Andrea Wareham in October 2017 as his “late night girl”. Two months later under his watch I was dismissed while my dad was in hospital, just out of a coma. My full story about this is in the interview audio player at the bottom of this page.
When I started this website, I started it as LateNightGirl.org, which still functions under this handle. Since then I have been writing about, and confronting Pret and Clive Schlee openly. I have “caught” them many times in their clumsiness on Twitter. And I use their “foot-in-mouth disease” to show the public how unprofessional, patronizing and non-caring they really are.
I write so blunt because I almost lost my life and witnessed too many times how Pret names and shames managers via emails to all shops when they fail. I keep asking for independent investigations into staff suicides. I also write extensively about the systemic bullying environment in Pret, something most in the public are surprised and shocked to hear about. Don’t be, if you live long enough, you will come to know that if something looks too good to be true, to better take a closer look. Two customer deaths, a third nearly fatal allergy reaction, several hospitalized and numerous warnings on allergen labels ignored, even after the deaths occurred. This should ring massive alarm bells! But here we are again, as long as it doesn’t affect us or our loved ones, we keep believing the fairy tale that is Pret A Manger, and our lives revolve around the free coffee and cookie marketing carrot.
So, where does Mr. Schlee put his foot in his mouth?
#Oneof the many opportunities he takes to spill the beans on things, is a little more hidden revelation he never expected to be caught out on. On his Pret blog on the former homeless employees, they call the “Rising Stars” they came up with the idea for the “Rising Stars” to solely run an entire shop by themselves, from the General Manager (GM) to the newest recruit. It all sounds so well, yet it is a dead give-away how the Pret Foundation is more a marketing tool than anything.
Clive Schlee writes:
โOur shop idea lost momentum when we returned home. People pointed out that we didnโt have enough Rising Stars at a management level to actually run the shop. Others felt we might be leaving them too exposed, as we are usually careful to integrate Rising Stars into our shop teams.โ
Again: “Others felt we might be leaving them too exposed, as we are usually careful to integrate Rising Stars into our shop teams.”
Leaving them too exposed for what?
And why being careful to integrate former homeless people into regular shop teams? (Short-term homeless and mainly young people mind you!)
Too exposed for this, Mr. Schlee?
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in โ Pret Staff Complaints
Some people in the public aren’t impressed and take a closer look:
Not impressed with only 450 “Rising Stars” having come through the program in 10 years, with 12K employees! Georgia Greenfield couldn’t be fooled either. Why so few? Because it only takes a handful of people or things to blow up a bigger picture than it actually is. It’s like advertising 5 cheap airline seats and winning hundreds of customers buying flights, as they assume many or all seats of that flight are cheap. The seats go fast and once a person goes online to book that seat, it’s gone and they find another flight just a bit more expensive.
#Two
It’s always good to have a second foot to put in one’s mouth. This one still gives me the chuckles. I wrote an extra blog post on the Timing of the ยฃ1000 announcement that Schlee made on Twitter. But in a nutshell, to this day 01. September 2019 the 29. May 2018 is the most visited day on my blog that I can see in my website statistics. Late in the evening on the 28. May 2018 I sent a link of my blog here to an Operations / Area Manager (OPs) I used to work under. I know this OPs to not keep secrets very well. Up until the 28. May 2018 my website was visited 3, 5 or even 10 times a day, sometimes even zero visitors.
I woke up on 29. May 2018 after having sent a link to the OPs late on 28. May 2018, and my website exploded into a three-digit number even before noon.
That day, early morning on 29. May 2018, Clive Schlee made the ยฃ1000 announcement for all staff on Twitter.
In October 2018 staff were still waiting for it to “moneyfest” (sorry had to!), and in August already started to get adjudicated, wondering if it was all a joke.
Only few people at least saw through this PR stunt:
Of course the money, which after tax came to ยฃ800, was finally paid out to staff who work(ed) longer than a year at Pret. But the announcement was made prematurely, once Clive Schlee and Pret became aware of my blog, quickly trying to win the public and staff over with a little PR carrot.
Fasting forward to July 2019, the bribe didn’t really convince staff after all, but I’m delighted to having pressed Clive Schlee’s panic button, but feel sorry for the staff who had to wait so long.
Being careful to integrate the “Rising Stars” into regular shops makes sense as Clive Schlee and the now new CEO Pano Christou not only are aware of work conditions, but set the tone for profit and the share holders / owners. I call the staff from the regular shops who mainly dare to speak out anonymously, the “Fallen Stars”. And no former homeless person or anyone with a difficult past or mental health condition, would last long in a “regular” shop. It would give Pret a bad name if a “Rising Star” was catapulted back on the streets after having suffered what these “Fallen Stars” suffer on a daily basis and what I have survived during bereavement:
#Three
This one gives me a feeling of anger at all the fear management Pret hurls at hard working people with the anxiety I have suffered under them, and then Clive Schlee being so careless, clumsy and seemingly narcissistic in his communication. They are not as scary after all! It also gives me a sense of almost feeling sorry for him. But I have no “pity” nor empathy for this millionaire under whose “leadership” two customers died, staff suffer and suicides still need to be investigated.
On 30. June 2019 I saw a little, quiet tweet to Clive Schlee and his response:
An unassuming tweet about Schlee’s retirement, yet no official announcement made. Not thinking before he writes or speaks, Clive Schlee responds:
On 29. June a very concerned customer tweeted to Schlee about hellish work conditions in a shop where the air conditioning was broken and still not fixed. But the CEO did not respond. He only found time and care to respond to his (still unannounced) retirement:
Early on 01. July 2019 I tweeted the news of Schlee’s retirement to the press after I wrote a blog entry on his legacy. After confirmation from HQ the press then broke the news all over. But I had to tweet to the press again as everyone was fast asleep!
Only then did Clive Schlee as well as Pret make an official announcement of his retirement AND Schlee finally replied to the 29. June 2019 concern of the broken AC:
(A long list of other customer tweets regarding broken air conditioning in many shops for prolonged time I listed here: Overheated Shops / Work Conditions)
Schlee’s response tweet to the well-wisher on his retirement went completely over the heads of the press, except after I tweeted them.
Also on the 01. July 2019 after I posted new blog entries on Pret’s leadership and linked to the new CEO Pano Christou’s Twitter, he deleted his Twitter account @christoupano
But weirdly that day I made a screenshot as Mr. Christou blocked me, while Pret and Schlee didn’t. I am not blocked by Pret and Schlee as they collect my Tweets for a potential court case in the future. Christou who of course is different to Schlee, will most likely steer away from having an online presence as the new CEO. Smart move!
ยฏ\_(ใ)_/ยฏ
Having run out feet, we can always continue after taking one foot out via the PR machine, and then put it right back in again! There are more issues where Clive Schlee spilled the beans on things, but they are not as interesting to mention here…
In mid July 2019 Clive Schlee has been quickly replaced by Pano Christou on Glassdoor, to avoid further poor results, even though the announcement was that Schlee retires in September 2019. But a customer pointing out the poor results, again only to protect their own skin does Pret under Schlee respond fast! Forget labelling products to safe lives, only label when customer deaths become public, but be fast to make ยฃ1000 announcements and disappear from Glassdoor to avoid further cracks in the facade.
Too late.
And Christou, having come from McDonald’s management and learned under Schlee, he won’t put his foot in his mouth, but he will continue in the same way to maximize profit. Low-wage employees will continue to struggle and the Unions will continue to get them unionized.
I worked at Pret A Manger for almost 10 years and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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 an article in the Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2019 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
ยปCEOs have their employees suffer for them. But yet, the CEO’s pay goes up and up and upโฆ and so many people are left behind. Iโm here to tell you: No more! Itโs not right! Itโs never been right!ยซ
โ Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and CEO of Chobani
I’ve posted Hamdi Ulukaya’s TED Talk from which I took above quote on the “Anti-CEO Playbook“, which is worth watching for anyone who is tired of today’s profit-over-people driven global business ventures. It CAN and MUST be done differently! I’ve also written many posts on Clive Schlee’s “leadership” in Pret A Manger, like for example the Timing of the ยฃ1000 Announcement to all staff on Twitter on 29. May 2018, which came after he and Pret became aware of my blog in the night from 28th to 29th May 2018. But I want to pull some things together into one post again as I feel people still don’t get it!
I used to be your typical good citizen (and I still am!), working hard, keeping my head down, loyal come rain come shine, doing things by the book with all my shortcomings and down falls as well. I was your average employee. No, I was more. I always gave 150%. But I equally was lulled in and brainwashed by this Pret PR machine and a smiley, approachable CEO. Until they crossed so many boundaries that I, in an utter traumatized state endured. It took me distance to understand what happened to me. For any new reader, my full story is in the audio player interview at the bottom of this page.
Apart from what I have survived in Pret and collected in other staff reviews, it is beyond me how easily society today remains lulled in, blinded in the acceptance of how business is done today. People are comfortable with a business EVEN after 2 customers died from their products, and a third nearly fatal reaction.
I should be stopping right here in this post, as the ultimate terrible thing that can happen to any business is customers dying from that business’ product or service! And in Pret TWO customers died. Yet, after the initial outrage, everyone goes back to business, and the chaos behind the scenes continues without any consequences for that company!
While I worked at Pret, and even before my brother died when all the nightmare began, I always wondered why in shop after shop the management is so poor with just very few exceptions. There is a bullying environment I looked over as everyone was treated bad, except those who kissed up to leadership for quick promotion. But I tried to ignore the environment and kept going. Yet, I always knew in my heart that the “fish stinks from its head” and if a company has poor management skills across the board, it comes from the top down.
Clive Schlee’s management style is very simple: It’s a “good cop, bad cop” approach. He’s the good cop who pretends to not realize what’s going on when staff complain about the bad cop managers in their shops. But all cops have one thing in mind: profit, profit, profit and squeeze the maximum “productivity” out of employees until there’s nothing left to squeeze. And when they’re dried up and burnt out, they are discarded like broken machines! Clive Schlee is one of those leaders who doesn’t like to hire and fire, he leaves that to the firing squat called the HR department, who in turn let the Operations Team do the firing.
Responsibility is handed down through the ranks to the bottom. A typical cowardliness leadership style. It’s like the captain of a ship that jumps ship first when it sinks, instead of doing the courageous and principled thing that a true Captain is supposed to do. I distinguish these two “captains” by a capital letter. A true Captain gets passengers and crew off the ship first, starting with the most vulnerable, and then as the Captain, he leaves the ship at the very end when EVERYONE is off the boat!
But in Pret A Manger the typical “leadership” style is, that the captain, the top leadership saves their skin first and blames downward, or in the words of Hamdi Ulukaya again:
ยปCEOs have their employees suffer for them … and so many people are left behind.ยซ
The most recent example of this is Pano Christou. With all the press regarding the allergen deaths and my blog being a sore in Clive Schlee’s sight, the announcement of his “retirement” (he’s 60!) was made AFTER I tweeted to the press on 01. July (I explain in detail here) and the press then contacting HQ for confirmation. Pano Christou becomes the new CEO in September. But since Clive Schlee leaves a legacy of poor staff reviews on Glassdoor & Co. what does he do? He does what he does best: he passes the buck downward and let’s Pano Christou already appear in mid July on Glassdoor.
A customer pointed out the poor Glassdoor scoring on 01. July 2019 when the retirement announcement was tweeted. So, Schlee must have arranged for Christou to take over on Glassdoor before the official September handover:
Both percentages of Schlee and now Christou are from the mid July 2019 handover on Glassdoor. The ยฃ1000 “bribe” and marketing didn’t help cover over the reality of work in Pret.
Again, instead of owning up he quickly passes the buck to the next in line. Pano Christou having come from McDonald’s management (one of the biggest exploitative companies) and started in Pret in management, he learned under Schlee.
And this is clever as well because Christou starting from zero, once he gets let’s say the first 10 votes and 7 out of the 10 are positive, he will be at 70% approval rate in no time, making it look like he’s the great CEO. New viewers, especially those from other countries who are completely new to Pret assume Pret has great senior management in place. But he will continue under the “CEO Playbook” that Hamdi Ulukaya adequately criticizes and works on to reform, having a McDonald’s background and having been longer in Pret than Clive Schlee. He will make no difference, but will continue under the same facade. And this is very typical Pret, tweaking, tricking, covering up instead of really caring. It’s just regular millionaires who only care to advance their wealth.
A quick reminder of what Pret staff experience and mainly voice in anonymity:
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+ More recent reviews:
The above slideshows are just a selection, the list goes on in โ Pret Staff Complaints
A poignant truth someone wrote on a Twitter feed. Worth reading the whole feed:
ยปItโs 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.ยซ
Out of my own experience and my former colleagues’ complaints to me as their Team Leader, I was at least lucky enough to be in a position to stand up for them as their Leader, but my and their experiences topped with the way Pret dealt with the customer deaths, shows so frighteningly how reckless and dangerous this kind of “leadership” style is.
“Leadership”, that I can only put in quotation marks, that refuses to take responsibility, blames downwards, passes the buck to the next in line, and then has the audacity to remain as a non-executive Director in the background! I can only boil it down to narcissistic arrogance which shows when Clive Schlee, only thinking about himself, ignores a serious customer complaint on behalf of staff on Twitter!
Customer complaint on 29. June 2019 about hellish work conditions in a shop:
First and Second Tweet to which Schlee responded on 01. July AFTER retirement news broke. (A long list of customer complaints regarding overheated shops with broken air conditioning and the hellish work conditions staff are left in).
On 30. June 2019, Schlee’s response to a farewell regarding his retirement, but no official retirement announcement until I tweeted to the press on 01. July (after I tweeted this to the press I got shadow banned and then the press started “breaking” the news on Twitter). Clive Schlee’s response to Neil here came AFTER the above customer, Kirk tweeted TWICE to Schlee about broken air conditioning:
Linkย Clive Schlee being all about himself again, while ignoring TWO Tweets a day before by a customer on excruciating work conditions! I’m sure he didn’t realize that he spilled the beans again unintentionally regarding his non-caring about the welfare of his hardworking employees!
In the U.S. it would hail a storm of lawsuits on Pret with one customer death being enough to sue the living daylights out of them! One customer already unsuccessfully sued Pret in New York in 2016 after having suffered an anaphylactic shock ALSO from an unlabelled Sesame product. He was devastated when he learned of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s anaphylactic shock, leading to her death from an unlabelled Sesame product ALSO in 2016! He fought in court, but lost.
This lawsuit wasn’t a hint enough for Pret to do the right thing labelling their products! And then even AFTER TWO customer deaths Pret STILL didn’t do the right thing UNTIL the deaths became public! Only THEN did SLOW change happen. I cover this and their inconsistency in “Pret’s Labelling Commitment?” with their appalling and infamous slogans.
“It’s what makes Pret, Pret”!!
HR department logo:
So, this is the UK, no lawsuits.
“Polite”.
Politically correct.
Sweet-talking.
Complacent, inefficient, indifferent and arbitrarily dangerous for people’s health and lives.
And Pret is very quick to change the shop signage of their 350+ stores in the UK for Pride month, while not acting on allergen labelling on their products until customer deaths became public.
Customer deaths don’t make people wake up, certainly staff complaints, staff deaths and suicides don’t wake people up. No lawsuits. No investigations. A society full of indifferent people that only cares for a free cookie. We all know that the opposite of care and love is not hate, but indifference.
I despair at this.
And perhaps it mainly takes CEOs who are also the founders of their companies to care enough to make a difference. Most CEOs these days are just “managers” who were given the rod to the flock, and thus they don’t have concerns for what they were entrusted with. They then open the door to the wolves of private equity. And the suffering gets out of control with the “managers” sneaking out the back door, when the “slaughter” gets too bloody and the managers are in danger of getting cut.
But I want to end on a positive note, another hopeful, courageous and principled CEO, whose words are blunt but much needed, and like Hamdi Ulukaya, a Captain with a capital “C”:
ยปTo sell my business, this thing that I created, that I poured my life, 30 years of work in; to sell it to one of those bastards (venture capitalists), it would feel like selling one of my children into prostitution. And I was never gonna do it.ยซ
โ Guy Singh-Watson Founder and CEO of employee-owned Riverford
Riverford and Chobani scores June/July 2019 on Glassdoor
UPDATE: October 2019
I worked at Pret A Manger for almost 10 years and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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 an article in the Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2019 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
The announcement that Clive Schlee would retire in September 2019 came on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted to the press, having read Schlee’s response to a well-wisher on Twitter. The press then contacted HQ, got the confirmation and started “breaking” the news on Twitter.
Quiet Tweet the day before on 30. June 2019, but no official announcement:
Linkย Clive Schlee being all about himself again, while ignoring a Tweet a day before by a customer on excruciating work conditions (below Tweets).
I responded to the above well-wisher, and later tweeted to the press, as I told someone already months ago that Schlee would sneak out the back door quietly. I wrote about it hinting that this may happen in:
Clive Schlee all being about himself, responded to the well-wisher’s Tweet on 30. June 2019, yet did NOT respond to a very serious health and safety issue of a customer Tweet on the 29. June 2019. The customer even tweeted twice. Schlee responded on the 01. July 2019 AFTER I wrote new blog entries about his retirement and after the press “broke” the news from my Tweet.
THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is Pret A Manger leadership:
First and Second Tweet to which Schlee responded on 01. July AFTER retirement news broke.
Customer: “It’s shocking they are not supported by decision makers.”
Don’t be shocked, that’s typical Clive Schlee and Pret A Manger!
I did an extra blog entry on the ongoing Air Conditioning issues with over-heated shops that I worked in as well. Many customers tweeted to Pret about this: “Pret A Manger Staff work in Over-heated Conditions”
The press then being the press, pretending to break the news with some “inside” knowledge “broke” it after I tweeted to them. That’s why I tweet publicly and not “secretly” in emails.
So, September has come early.
BUT knowing Pret and the poor scoring Clive Schlee leaves on his exit (44% recommend working at Pret and 50% recommend Schlee) he stays as the active CEO until September, but they placed Pano Christou onto Review sites to avoid more negative scoring for the CEO.
2 Glassdoor ratings already 15. July 2019 as on 14. July Clive Schlee was still as CEO on the Glassdoor profile. Makes you wonder what two people in the first day rated the new CEO already.
Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account on 01. July 2019 when I linked to it in “Clive Schlee’s Legacy” as I had a lot of traffic on my blog after having tweeted to the press:
So, Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account on 01. July 2019 after I tweeted to the press and the press “breaking” the news then, Pano having visited my blog where he saw that I linked to his Twitter account. Pano blocked me while Clive Schlee and Pret still haven’t blocked to probably collect evidence.
Christou’s handle then lead to a deleted page on 01. July 2019:
But as Mr. Christou doesn’t have a new official Twitter account yet as CEO and Mr. Schlee still has his official Twitter account, this means Christou is NOT yet CEO, but just placed his picture on Glassdoor to avoid further negative voting for the CEO and Pret. Also Christou probably uses Schlee’s Twitter as Schlee used to have a trusted person checking his mails when he was on holiday.
BUT Mr. Christou is the same and learned under Schlee. It’s just a different face to the same exploitative and bullying company. And the press is silent, because they cater to business.
UPDATE 24. September 2019
A new Twitter account under the same handle @ChristouPano has started in September 2019. Seems to be from Canada. So, someone snatched that handle, and I doubt Pret’s Pano Christou will have an official CEO account like Clive Schlee has.
Pano Christou came from McDonald’s management and started in Pret as an Assistant Manager (AM). Even though he likes to portray that he started at the bottom, sorry, I worked with many AM’s who came from other companies. They work at Pret with a Team Member (TM) uniform for a few weeks or even just days, and then go straight into AM and in a few months if they aim for it, become General Managers (GM). So, yes he started in shops, but he never was under the intense pushing, stress and low pay TMs are subjected to.
He will do things differently of course, as his personality is different where he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve or has “foot-in-mouth disease” like Clive Schlee. But he will do things the same in a profit-driven, exploitative company under the new owners who aim to topple Nestle off the throne and expand their wealth.
In my worst time in Pret in 2016 when my emailing started to increase in my trauma and at times drunk (I share my story at the bottom audio player in an interview), one email exchange with Pano Christou I remember very well, where he invited staff to contact him with any concerns, ideas etc. He responded and started his message about my email: ยปI must admit, beautifully writtenยซ and then went on in his email.
I remember this as odd, because only an “opponent” or someone who disagrees with you has to “admit” something. If I stand opposite an opponent that I respect, in or after a boxing match let’s say, we fought, I got caught out with not being on my best form, I may say to the opponent: ‘I must admit, good punch!’.
So, Mr. Christou, you will continue where Mr. Schlee left off, all the sweet-talk you learned under him, how to polish the facade, how to exploit low-wage workers behind that smile, but I don’t buy for a minute that Pret’s work conditions will improve nor that you will implement the Living Wage. So, we continue to work on unionizing Pret A Manger, no matter how long it takes.
Clive Schlee’s legacy:
… apart from two customer deaths (third nearly fatal) he didn’t act on until it became public and all the ignored warnings before AND after deaths!
UPDATE 22. July 2019 Pano Christou’s “clean” start on Glassdoor. He’s been with Pret longer than Clive Schlee, and apart from doing a few things differently, when it comes to staff exploitation and low pay etc. he is not different than Schlee, just a different face on the profit driven company now under JAB that competes with Nestle for the top spot:
UPDATE 19. September 2019, Pano Christou might need to do some “real” work instead of bullsh!tting staff and the public alike. My tip to Pano, check the #antiCEOplaybook
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The above slideshow is just a selection, the list goes on in โ Pret Staff Complaints
Link: >>>Two Pret Staff have DIED recently One is said to be a suicide. It’s not the first suicide in Pret. I survived. If I would have gone over the edge, to my current knowledge, mine would be #3 and it would be in connection to Pret!
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now โretiredโ 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 โMy Ordeal with Pret A Mangerโ. 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.
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.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
ยฉ2020 expret.org
Unless otherwise stated or linked to, this website and all writings within this site are the property of expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Reproduction and distribution of my writings without written permission is prohibited.
ยฉ2017 โ Present: expret.org, poetrasblok.com, LateNightGirl.org unless otherwise stated. All Rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Pano Christo (left), Clive Schlee
David Carter, HR Fixer
From a 2016 
Glassdoor July 2019
One of my many articles about and to Clive Schlee, one of which I dedicate to his farewell gift:
Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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