As the Junior Doctors are on strike again, which I completely support, the same bullsh!t words are going around that the BMA union started that Pret staff (or baristas) get £14.10 an hour. This LAZY hijacking of Pret’s staff low-wage shows how little they care about retail workers AND don’t want to take it up with givernment workers’ pay.
I explained since last year that there ONLY few baristas emplpyed compared to other staff. And VERY FEW baristas get the £12.85 and if lucky the +£1.25 bonus = £14.10. And out of those baristas they work at airports and railways stations where it’s immensely busy and Pret pay all staff a few pennies more as well as charging customers more.
A Team Leader who is a position ABOVE the Barista even doesn’t get £12.85 + £1.25 = £14.10.
Just yesterday on Facebook a shop manager posted a staff ad that shows the numbers. I put 2 screenshots here, the 2. with the time stamp so people don’t say this is an old ad. The time stamp hides Pret’s name, so I put both screenshots having hovered of the time:
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The Team Leader there like in most shops gets around £12.15 and if lucky the bonus which then is £13.40. Still no £14.10 despite being a position higher than the barista.
ONLY in AIRPORTS and SOME RAILWAY STATIONS get SOME, VERY FEW baristas £12.85 and if lucky +£1.25.
I worked in shops of 35 – 40 staff all shift and places (kitchen and shop). They only have 1 – 2 Baristas and several coffee makers who are paid less. Airports and the busy trainstations have 2 – 3 Baristas (if at all!) plus several cheaper coffee makers to save money on Barista wage. Do the math on how many airport and railway stations shops there are and estimate how many “trained” Baristas they have, and even out of those few, not many get the £14.10 incl. bonus.
UPDATE June 2024
After the government raised the minimum wage in April 2024, Pret are forced to up the pay a few pennies.
Pret barista job ad on Indeed as in June 2024, the MAXIMUM a barista gets is £13.65 INCLUDING bonus! Do your OWN research!
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Close-up:
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Not even TEAM LEADERS (shop & kitchen) which are shift supervisors in Pret get £14.10. Again, June 2024 Team Leader ads on Indeed. Maximum £13.85 INCLUDING bonus which is hardly achieved aevery week:
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THIS in contrast to a 12 year old SMALL sandwich chain from Bristol called “Sandwich Sandwich” who want to give Pret a headache and now opened up in London. They have only about 6+ shops (Bristol & London) paying their team leaders aka super visors £14.15 an hour EXCLUDING bonus. Not sure if they have a bonus system, but £14.15 compared to UNDER £14.10 in Pret which is INCLUDING the bonus that is hardly achieved.
IT’S JUST A HANDFUL out of thousands of staff who MIGHT get £14.10 INCLUDING hardly to achieve bonus!!!
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UPDATE September 2023:
A job ad on Facebook with barista pay £11.42
It’s clear from what I write below that the £14.10 is a myth and only available for extremely rare baristas who have connections to management.
September 2nd, 2023: £11.42 + £1.25 bonus (if lucky to get it) = £12.67 NOT £14.10!
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Further in my post from March 2023:
UPFRONT:
Pret emphasise BARISTA wages, even though hourly paid Team Leaders are above Barista’s position and pay, and that’s simply BECAUSE many staff and especially Baristas have quit Pret.
And ESPECIALLY after the smoothie/frappe lies Pret gave for years resulting in the BBC reporting on it .
Pret NEED Baristas since many shops open later and close earlier due to even more lack of staffsince the coffee subscription mess. Therefore Pret emphasise THAT particular payrise to the press, despite Team Leader being a position AND pay above Baristas. Only VERY few Baristas will get that “up” to pay, who work at airports and made friends with management.
Pret depend on Baristas to get many and FAST coffees out because coffee is the BIGGEST profit margin and Pret keep pushing the coffee subscription that had many staff quit! A latte for customers means £3.50+, but for Pret means around £40p including cup, lid, milk, water, Barista wages etc.
So, Pret will be delighted to find that social media is on fire with people appalled that Pret staff (supposedly) will earn more than junior doctors, and so getting much needed publicity after all the bad press. Pret very cleverly again use terminology and keep information vague. Quoting the UP TO £14.10 “depending on experience and location”.
Pret via the media announced a payrise in March 2023 for April 2023, but fail to mention WHY they raise wages. The UK government will raise the minimum wage to £10.40 in April, and Pret would be in breach if they don’t raise the basic pay as it is below £10.40 currently (March 2023).
A Pret worker will start at £10.60 in April. Pret always pay 20p more than the minimum wage to appear generous. But this is because work at Pret is so exhausting, staff work for three people, even before the pandemic. But now it’s much much worse, and many staff have quit. The current pay bands until end of March 2023 can be seen below.
Pret say that depending on experience and location, that Baristas can earn up to £14.10 per hour, but again keeping it nice and vague. Pret don’t mention that this is for including the £1.25 bonus which is NOT contractual. And the “up to” pays incl. bonus is at airports and busy railway stations like Waterloo, King’s Cross etc. where the pay for staff and food costs for customers are higher. And airports are even WORSE busy than regular shops! And it’s “up to” £14.10! Mostly it’s less than that for most Baristas.
“Barista pay is slightly higher and will increase from between £10.85 and £12.50 an hour to between £11.20 and £12.85. Pay rates depend on location and experience.” Source: Sky.com
So, the £14.10 INCLUDES the £1.25 Mystery Shopper bonus which is NOT contractual and therefore not guaranteed (many shopsrarely get the extra £1.25 bonus per hour). It can be refused to be rewarded by weekly Mystery Shoppers (see Mystery Shopper reports on what’s demanded from staff), but also by Managers for ANY silly reason. The bonus system as psychology is abused and used to keep workers on their toes.
Hardly any Barista will get the £12.85, let alone the added £1.25 = £14.10 per hour. Most start and REMAIN on the lowest of £11.20 and don’t always get the £1.25 bonus.
Also, Pret shop General Managers who have to cover Team Members (lowest position) to save money and work overtime without extra pay, say that at times Team Members are paid more than GMs.
And a staff who is HOMELESS and has to couch surf while Pret do their PR stunts “helping” homeless people and collecting donations (for tax breaks and brownie points with the public):
I suggest again like I do all the time, that an undercover journalist goes into Pret or at least that journalists wait a few months until AFTER April 2023 when wages across companies are raised, and ASK Pret Baristas from different shops if they get the “up to” £14.10 incl. bonus. I guarntee you, most will laugh you out of the shop!
And Pret here emphasise on Barista pay while Team Leader pay and position higher than Barista. That means Pret are DESPERATE for Baristas as many have left.
Plus, all staff, and especially management work many more hours overtime unpaid. So, if breaking down the pay, it is less than all the pay bands mentioned in below’s chart. Staff are manipulated to work overtime without pay and managers are pressured to CUT labour and then stay longer unpaid. Win-win for Pret execs and shareholders on the backs of shop workers AND managers.
And shops on average have 1 – 3 or 4 assistant managers (kitchen and shop floor) while having anything between 15 – 50+ staff depending on how big and busy/long opening hours the shop is, like an airport or trainstation. So, this “up to” £14.10 is just for a small handful of Baristas, most who’ll be friends with management.
A Barista gets a little over £11 in April 2023 AFTER being a lesser paid team member for god knows how long. You never start as a Barista in Pret, but always as a Team Member. Only Managers who come from other company brands start as ASSISTANT Managers in Pret before then being promoted to Managers again (like it was with current CEO Pano Christou). Any other role in shops start at the bottom on Team Member level with the pay you will see in below chart.
And all the pay bands will mostly be kept at the LOWEST rate for most, except for those who make friends with management, including via the bed room. Sad but true. Please see a recent staff review on this.
And whatever pay anyone gets, they will stay on that pay for many, many years and work for three people. Pret sucks the life-blood out of staff and fool the public.
In my Pret CEO Pano Christou’s Rags to Riches post I go through the various shop positions. Pano Christou loves to tell the press that he “started in shops”, which is true, but he often fails to mention that he started as an assistant manager with more pay, perks, benefits, more holiday, more bonus, sick pay from day 1 (that’s a big one!) etc. etc.
I explain in detail many of the benefits he received from day 1 starting in Pret compared to what a Team Member gets. In brief, the main SHOP positions are very hierarchical. You NEVER jump the line to Barista. Workers start at:
#2 – Barista or Hot Chef (shop floor) or Team Member Trainer (kitchen)
#3 – Team Leader (kitchen or shop floor as both are run by separate Team Leaders)
#4 And THEN Assistant Manager shop OR kitchen. Pano started from day one as AM after coming from McDonald’s where he was a Manager. ONLY Managers from other companies fast track, or rather for them, back track to Assistant Manager position with lots of perks.
Pano just likes to portray to the public that he started at the “bottom”. Typical Pret psychological wordings, knowing the public always ASSUMES things. “Starting in shops” can mean anything! But most assume it means he started as a low-wage Team Member. Nopes.
I worked at Pret when Pano was UK Managing Director, and I was never impressed with him. In my experience, he’s not a leader. He doesn’t come up with any significant changes, he was just the shadow of his mentor, former CEO Clive Schlee, like a clone speaking the same psychological slogans. And even in staff reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed and on social media staff keep mentioning that he’s detached, despite visitng shops to let his boss hang out. In my impression of him, he has his head in the sand and just caters to Pret’s owners, 2. richest family in Germany, the Reimanns under in taxhaven Luxembourg based JAB Holdings, and he wants to build a legacy of speed-opening shops worldwide, while many existing shops are in shambles.
#5 – Genral Manager overlooking both shop and kitchen
And then if they move further up, they’ll go outside shops to become Group, then OPs/Operations (area) Managers. Group Managers get their feet wet by being placed in an area of about 4 – 5 shops before moving on to become OPs where they then look after an area of about 10 – 14 shops.
But let’s go further if we do compare government wages to private equity wages. CEO Pano Christou got £300K in 2020, £400K in 2021 during the pandemic when profits were down and after he cut wages, benefits, bonus and paid breaks of the lowest paid staff. And I’m sure he’s getting another £100K now in 2023. PLUS £4million in bonus in 2021 and counting in the years to follow.
UK Prime Minister Richi Sunak gets £165K, and let’s just forget for a moment that this is just like a waitress tip in coppers for this multi-billionaire. But Pret’s CEO gets more than double in annual wage than Sunak, PLUS millions in bonus.
USA President Biden also gets less than Pret’s CEO, just a fraction less in annual pay. Do your own research.
I took the liberty to change the BMA ad in honour of low-wage Pret Staff who are tossed around like a football by Pret, the government, and now NHS Unions and Staff:
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And this corrupt Tory government are WORTH the likes of Pret. You know why? Because they deserve every mouldy sandwich they can buy.
Now, here’s the current pay rate for Pret shop staff until April 2023 for each position. And as you can see, you won’t find assistant managers on the chart. 😉
Pret just spin the numbers very vaguely, not mentioning the discretionary bonus, and the public falls for it!
I screenshot this table on 13.03.2023 off Pret’s website where it’s linked to via a pdf link:
So, workers, as in Team Members will start 20p higher than the minimum wage from April on. And that’s for staff over 22 years old, mind you. And a Team Leader is really like a mini manager doing all the work, running shops and getting all the blame. I was a Team Leader, I know how excrutiating it is for such a low pay.
Also, Pret made cuts to staff IMMEDIATELY before first lockdown in March 2020 WHILE giving freebies to NHS workers. And later Pret proceeded to cut wages, benefits, bonus, paid breaks etc. Pret workers are still worse off than before. This payrise is due to the minimum wage being raised, and is a complete joke and PR stunt.
And most fall for it using low-wage Pret workers as examples to boost support for NHS staff. I completely agree that doctors, nurses etc. should get way more pay, but don’t use Pret staff and the MISLEADING “up to” £14.10 pay which includes the discretionary (not mandatory) £1.25 bonus to make a point, while you don’t do your research properly and fall for Pret’s vague wording where Pret leave YOU to assume the pay is for baristas.
Use the government’s CORRUPT dealings to prove your point! And stop falling for Pret’s bullshit!
Doctors, nurses and unions should point their fingers UP to the government that always say they can’t afford to pay what doctors/nurses and unions ask for. Yet, the government comes up with multi billions for dodgy stuff. THAT’S where doctors and nurses should raise their voices, and not the lazy way to point downwards to fastfood workers. What a shame!
Use the Billions the government came up with for the track & trace scheme that failed.
Use the £140 million they already paid and the annual £1.5 Billion to send traumatised refugees to Rwanda, a country with human rights issues.
Use the millions upon millions upon millions of pounds for dodgy contracts by many Tory politicians for their families and friends.
Use the wall paper money Boris Johnson spent.
Take your pick! The list can go on and on and on. But no, let’s use low-wage Pret workers. That’s LAZY activism! And it’s also misleading and deeply dissappointing that educated people don’t fact check Pret’s pay for various roles but just fall for Pret’s clever and vague wording.
Point to this corrupt government that use tax payers’ money to spend it on themselves instead of the people and workers across the board. The government AND Pret LOVE it when workers in all fields and skills pick on each other for the crumbs these millionaires throw at them.
Last year Pret TWICE delayed paying staff under dodgy excuses. The second pay delay strategically using the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend, knowing the public would be distracted should the press become wind of it, which it did as I was contacted by Pret staff and passed it on to The Guardian. AND on Monday banks are closed while Pret promised that staff can get pay on THAT bank holiday Monday.
I was contacted by desperate staff and emailed CEO Pano Christou and openly copying in Sarah Butler from The Guardian, who then reported on it. But because it was the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, hardly anyone noticed the news. Pret being clever again.
Later The Guardian then also reported that the CEO got almost £4million in bonus and a 27% payrise in 2021 AFTER he cut wages, benefits, bonus etc.
That’s Pret A Manger for you!
Junior Doctors do NOT earn less than Pret baristas! Do some FACT checking and research, and stop using the bottom most rung like Pret and everyone else already do!
The DM I received and passed on to The Guardian:
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying (in which Manny Matern was part of) during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret. 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.
UPDATE July 2024 at the very bottom regarding ongoing food poisoning complaints in various itsu shops.
Further updates 2024/2025 about Metcalfe’s driver license issues at the very bottom of this page.
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Let’s do a little bit more digging into Julian Edward Metcalfe, founder of itsu and re-co-founder of Pret A Manger. This is just a brief “case study”, not a deep dive into Metcalfe’s family line as I want to highlight something specific.
And dear journalists, maybe one day you may give credit where all the research I do for free and ALWAYS credit/link to the source where I found the information, my experience and encounters with these people comes from. I am not a journalist, but a survivor of workplace bullying during bereavement at Pret.
Also, to British people especially journalists, I write so detailed as if I was teaching a school class because I have many American readers who are not familiar with who’s who in the Royal Family.
Julian Metcalfe is the founder of itsu and what I call the co-RE-founder of Pret A Manger. I explain below.
Julian’s father: David Patrick Metcalfe.
The Duke of Windsor (who before that was King Edward VIII, Queen Elizabeth’s uncle) was David Metcalfe’s godfather.
Julian’s grandfather: Edward “Fruity” Metcalfe.
Edward Metcalfe was best man to then recently abdicated King Edward VIII and American actress Wallis Simpson. This led to Queen Elizabeth’s father becoming king.
Julian’s great-grandfather: George Curzon, 1st Marquess of Kedleston.
I will mention him later from an interesting tweet.
Quote from The Telegraph article about Julian Metcalfe’s parents:
»The couple had two sons and a daughter, but divorced in 1964; two years later Alexa died after taking what a pathologist at the time suspected was “a sleeping draught”. Their children, including Julian Metcalfe, the future founder of the Pret A Manger sandwich chain, moved back to live in great style with their father. “We had powerful people to dinner all the time,” Julian Metcalfe later recalled of his childhood.«
Another quote about David Metcalfe, Julian’s father which shows how Julian grew up in the highest society and privilege: »Friends celebrated (David) Metcalfe as “the last man about town with a bit of style”. At his home in Wilton Street, he was host to “everybody who is anybody”.«
And of course with all these connections to the Royal Family and high society, Julian Metcalfe has an OBE.
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Now let that melt on your tongue like a mouldy Pret sandwich: Julian Metcalfe’s FATHER was the godson of King Edward VIII, who gave up his “kingship” to be with Amercian actress and *scandal scandal* divorcee Wallis Simpson. Prince Harry repeated that, but he didn’t have much to lose.
Let’s do some brain-fnck here:
Prince William is the great-grand nephew of King Edward VIII (later Duke of Windsor), giving the OBE to great-grand son of best men to King Edward VIII – or – son to godson of King Edward VIII / Duke of Windsor.
Got it?!
Oh, what a coincidence!
Katschink!
Is there any wonder that some call Pret a “British institution”?
The million dollar question is: Who is Julian Metcalfe’s godfather? Prince Philip? Or even Prince Charles if he wasn’t too young to have become godfather? Metcalfe’s Wikipedia entry is mighty quiet about all his royal connections.
In his full Q&A at the Oxford Union I noticed one thing very predominantly, Julian is constantly portraying that he fell into success by accident. He pretends to be clueless, admits that he was lazy in school and that success supposedly just keeps falling into his lap, as if he’s such a talent where everything he touches just happens to turn to gold.
In reality, I believe that from what I read in the press, his foot-in-mouth disease in his tweet exchange with me and the itsu staff reviews (see my YouTube slide further below), that he is a spoiled prat who had enough money to re-start Pret after it didn’t succeed the first time around.
I write so blunt because of how he treats his staff and his indifference to the health and life of people in general.
And I, a NOBODY chased him off Twitter simply because this prat isn’t used to getting challenged! When you read the staff reviews of him that I linked to him on Twitter and later put on my YouTube slide, it’s very visible that he must be a very aggressive, angry and patronizing person. His staff must be in sheer fear around him. He is used that everybody hushes around him or is part of his harsh environment. Most journalists kiss up to him and business people worship him. And then little me comes along, challenges him for 5 minutes and he tucks his tail between his legs and dashes off after just 2 days on Twitter!
Most of you who read this are perfectly fine with rich people, especially men, to treat HUMAN BEINGS on low wage like sh!t. But you counter me, a “nobody” when I speak out, because you are upset that YOU don’t do the same.
In his Oxford Union Q&A he keeps portraying to be falling into success by accident. One itsu staff review hints at this very strongly in a shocking review calling him “oafish”.
Click Ctrl & + to enlarge the screenshot or just read the full review via the link underneath. Ctrl & – to decrease the size again.
The above review (click on link underneath) has been DELETED off Glassdoor which doesn’t surprise me! I will check if the other reviews are also deleted. I have seen several itsu reviews and customer complaints disappear, as well as being told by a friend of the late Jeffrey Hyman, who founded Pret, that Pret (or maybe even itsu) have messed with Wikipedia entries (see info below). Pret and / or itsu must have either complained to Glassdoor, Indeed etc. or found out who the person(s) is / are who wrote negative reviews and “influenced” them to delete it. THAT’S WHY I make and keep screenshots!
For this and other reviews I took screenshots of and sent to Metcalfe on Twitter before he deleted his account, please see below video. That’s all Pret and itsu do, they contact platforms and / or fear manage people who left reviews to delete them. And compared to Pret, itsu are very active on Glassdoor, responding to negative reviews. And itsu does a clever thing to ask the reviewer to contact itsu to discuss this further. In reality itsu and Metcalfe want to KNOW WHO the reviewer is! NEVER respond to companies fishing for your identity! There’s a reason employee reviews are set to anonymous.
And as Julian Metcalfe has a big inflated ego, I’m sure he does everything to get reviews about HIMSELF personally deleted. No surprise there. But the truth will always surface in time Mr. Metcalfe.
For people with visual impairment where audio reading programs cannot read screenshots, I just quote a few highlights from above review, quote:
»Toxic leadership, Favouritism, Lack of Diversity, Poor Management, Cruel CEO / Founder
JULIAN METCALFE the oafish chaotic founder who insists on being involved across all areas despite having little to no knowledge in anything apart from sales and operations. He wanders the office behaving as if he’s a cutesy naive child and then behind closed doors will overtly disrespect and bully those that work directly with him. Have noticed him being very sexist, making racist jokes in front of minority staff, and regularly shouting loudly and aggressively at managers TIL they’re in tears. (A technique which his leadership team mimic) – head office is in constant turmoil and there’s a very high staff turnover due to people leaving after breakdowns or lack of support (mainly Julian’s mistreatment) or by being discreetly fired when Julian decided he’s displeased. – schoolgirl gossiping, hostility and aggression amongst department heads.
… When you have your employees shaking with stress and fear who call the police on your c.e.o. Due to an uncomfortable environment that is probably a wise time to step in.«
End of quote.
This and other similar reviews I linked to Metcalfe on Twitter, causing him to delete his account shortly after.
A recent little video appeared on Twitter with the title “Why I h8 itsu”.
Just click the play |> button or click the Twitter link under this video:
As I write on Pret and also “chased” Metcalfe off Twitter (please see YouTube player below) I get contacted now as well by itsu staff and customers. One email I received was last year:
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Quote for people with visual impairment where programs can’t read screenshots:
“Hey there! I saw your Twitter and how you faced bullying and abuse from Pret. I’ve recently been doing research into Julian’s other company Itsu as I’ve been a consumer of it for a while. However, there are massive racist notions and cultural misappropriation that I’ve found and hoping to gain support from for the company to make actual changes. Would you be interested in seeing what I have over email or Discord or anything else?”
Other reviews along those lines where Metcalfe is directly mentioned as being accused to being sexist, racist, aggressive etc. I put on my YouTube slide below together with his deleted tweets that I screen-grabbed before he deleted.
I find his facial expression, tone of voice and choice of words pretty intense to put it lightly. But of course an appearance or impression doesn’t prove anything. Many people, especially in the business world fall for this and mistake this for “passion” or “being passionate”. What I see is aggression and anger. And I also noticed that half the questions he is asked, he doesn’t answer except with the same supposedly “humility” of saying that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Anyone taking a closer look? Anyone REALLY look at his words and demeanor, and see something here?
Many of these itsu staff reviews keep pointing out that he behaves like a clueless child, before then aggressively “undoing” months worth of work.
I linked some of these reviews to Metcalfe on Twitter. He must have been warned by Pret about who I am, as he then suddenly deleted some tweets and his Twitter account completely after being on there only for 2 days.
Most of his tweets I took screenshots of before he deleted it as I was gobsmacked that he even responded to me and kept retweeting my tweets. I think someone in his PR department needs to get fired, unless he doesn’t listen to them.
I placed most of Metcalfe’s deleted tweets in the following slide:
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I use YouTube and other platforms because my blog where I expose the REAL Pret A Manger from behind their happy facade, used to be heavily censored and completely blocked on Facebook and Instagram for a couple of years. So, I started a YouTube channel as they can’t block YouTube. Pret must have reported me to social media, Twitter is regularly censoring me, but this forced me to spread out onto other sites and thus expose Pret on a much broader spectrum. Thank you very much Pret. 🙂
What’s crazy is, that after I also chased Pret CEO Pano Christou and former CEO Clive Schlee off Twitter (Pano “hides” on Linkedin where people tell him all day long how wonderful he is), I tweeted to Metcalfe that we will see how long he will last on Twitter. I had a laugh basically, not realizing he’d delete his account a day later!
Note: I changed my Twitter handle from @LateNightGirlMe to @ expretDOTorg as Clive Schlee patronized me, calling me his “late night girl”. So I took that, turned it around and created my blog latenightgirl.org which will lead to expret.org. I created a Twitter handle to throw it back at him publicly. But I changed the handle as it doesn’t make much sense for new readers who are unfamiliar with my story.
UPDATE, that handle is suspended after I called Tristan and Andrew Tate “pimps” on my feed. Tristan Tate had the audacity to DM me, giving me unsolicited advise.
But I know how this shocked Clive when he first learnt of my blog and then qucikly made the £1000 announcement to all staff to counter my writings. I write about the timing of the £1000 for all staff in The Day Clive Schlee had a Bright Idee.
And as my handle is changed, it is now under my new handle on Twitter itself. Also, as Metcalfe deleted his account, you don’t see his handle in the tweets anymore, only the screenshots I took at the time show it.
Excuse my strong words, but I struggle with anger after what Pret put me through:
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And if people put his deleted handle @JulianEMetcalfe into Twitter search, they will only see the replies from people to Metcalfe, but not his handle anymore.
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THERE ARE TWO JEFFREYS that Julian Metcalfe doesn’t want to be connected to.
The first is the late Jeffrey Hyman, the original Pret founder, opening the first shop in 1983 Hampstead but didn’t succeed. He sold the brand, name and logo to Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham. But Pret, Julian Metcalfe, his friend and business partner former Pret CEO Clive Schlee who owns half of itsu, and current CEO Pano Christou all refuse to mention or honour Hyman.
And yet, Pret keep used similar Pret logo / font that Hyman used in 1984, compared to the later one placed in their head office and in at least one shop, in Victoria. I made the below photo in about 2020 or 2021 outside one of Pret’s Victoria shops when I walked by, knowing about this later Pret sign that I saw for the first time in Pret’s Victoria 75B Bressenden Place head office, and then later Pret used a similar style that Hyman first used in 1984.
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This logo was used by Hyman in 1984 and the name, concept etc. then sold to Metcalfe and Beecham who restarted Pret in 1986. A plaque is dedicated to Metcalfe and Beecham, but no mention whatsoever on Jeffrey Hyman.
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And maybe Pret cleverly mention the first Pret shop AND kitchen to say later that Hyman’s shop didn’t have a kitchen?
Since about 2 – 3 years Pret now have the brainwash words above shops and sometimes packaging, simply saying “London 1986”. This way, every customer who walks into a Pret shop gets brainwashed of the opening in 1986 by Julian Metcalfe and Sinclaire Beecham, instead of in 1983 by Jeffrey Hyman.
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Pret cups merely saying “1986” to brainwash customers about the founding date.
A friend of Hyman told me on Twitter that Pret employed someone to keep deleting Jeffrey Hyman and the 1983 opening of Pret from Wikipedia:
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THE OTHER JEFFREY that Metcalfe doesn’t want to be connected to is Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein who’s the convicted pedophile whom many believe was “suicided” in prison. It does not need to mean anything that Metcalfe is in Epstein’s address book, as Epstein was collecting data from many rich and influential people he met or knew. But it’s still interesting. I write about how I came to this info on Julian Metcalfe in Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book.
As I “chased” Metcalfe off Twitter, blogged about it and made this slide on YouTube showing his deleted tweets, itsu staff or people who are familiar with Metcalfe issues contact me. This is how I became aware that Metcalfe is in Epstein’s “little black book”. Again, this doesn’t mean anything as Metcalfe’s 2. wife Brooke Douglass de Ocampo was a New York society writer and therefore well connected. But I still find it interesting. It’s clear that the rich and famous are connected, often dating back decades into the past. Not to mention Prince Andrew’s direct friendship with Epstein and Metcalfe’s family connections with the Royal Family. They all know each other.
It’s one big happy family. This and Metcalfe’s close friendship to Clive Schlee, who is Pano Christou’s mentor, is why Pret cannot be distanced to Metcalfe when he made his ‘eugenicist’ statements to the Daily Mail and continued to rant on Twitter before deleting his account. Not to mention how Pret ignored TWO customer deaths and over a dozen injuries before it got public. Not to mention how awful Pret treat their staff. That’s from my own traumatic experience and what staff review on Glassdoor and Indeed, press articles etc. etc.
After I linked itsu staff reviews to Metcalfe on Twitter, he kept putting his foot in his mouth saying that anonymous staff reviews are biased. Well Mr. Metcalfe, this then also goes for the positive reviews. You can’t have it both ways.
One of his responses I didn’t include in my YouTube slide where I put most of his deleted Tweets. But he had the arrogance and audacity to claim that his low-wage staff “begged” for zero hour contracts. He also aims to turn shops mostly into robots and machines serving customers, eliminating labour costs to advance his net-worth £215 million personal empire.
Pret as well as itsu staff are also mainly “trained” via iPads on their free time during break or after work. There’s little to no training in both companies. And whatever training there is, workers have to do unpaid in their free time.
Greed is a bottomless pit.
Please note that my Twitter handle used to be @LateNightGirlMe after Clive Schlee called me his “late night girl”. So, to throw it back at him, I took that offense and created my blog under latenightgirl.org & Twitter name. I changed it as it doesn’t make much sense for people, and to keep my blog URL visible as it’s often censored on social media platforms. I explain the “late night girl” issue in the audio interview at the very bottom of this post.
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What a clown!
He actually wrote that! As if low-wage workers who are already paid the minimum possible, have so much money to spare to afford being flexible with their time. Anyone who wants to have flexibility to work can afford it and does not need a low-paid shitty job like itsu or Pret. I’ve rarely been held for such a fool. And before anyone mentions that Pret and itsu have “happy”, smiley staff, do some research on their strict and micromanaging mystery shopper scheme.
If people just take a slight look at his business dealings, it becomes very visible that he does NOT care whatsoever about workers, labour rights, building up a healthy workforce etc. He is your “average” greedy, entitled business men, coming from privilege but pretending to be an entrepreneur having started from nothing.
His “survival of the fittest” attitude is not just evident in his ridiculous lack of being media savvy to the Daily Mail (or his PR rep was on holiday), where he was happy to sacrifice the elderly and vulnerable people to save his millions, but in an interview with The Telegraph. The heading quotes Metcalfe: »Only the fittest will survive high street cull, warns Itsu and Pret founder Julian Metcalfe«.
I didn’t even know about the ads that Metcalfe did with women athletes he later tried to justify to me in his (now deleted) tweet after I linked staff reviews to him saying he’s a sexist (please see slide above). Just after he mentioned this I researched and found this ad in The Evening Standard:
»Women who are not trying to be men!«??? What insecure talk is that Mr. Metcalfe?
Julian’s great-grandfather which led me to reasearch a little.
George Curzon, 1st Marquess of Kedleston.
I started to dig a little deeper into Metcalfe when I saw the following tweet after Metcalfe made his lock-down comments to the Daily Mail:
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Julian Metcalfe took a page out of his great-grandfather's book. George Curzon, 1st Marquess of Kedleston cut rations during the Indian famine, claiming "indiscriminate alms-giving" was a public crime. Millions died. So what if a few thousand die to save a sandwich chain? pic.twitter.com/LKMCPv8pfO
In typical Metcalfe fashion, being overly dramatic, fear mongering because he fears to lose a few pennies from his empire:
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And of course I need to mention Metcalfe’s buddy Clive Schlee with whom I had shocking encounters that I explain on the audio player interview here at the bottom of this page. Metcalfe and Schlee have been friends and business partners since decades. Metcalfe gave Schlee the CEO spot in Pret.
I found an interesting lawsuit that was won by a former itsu partner who claimed he was booted out by Metcalfe and Schlee. He won his court case and received an undisclosed compensation amount, probably in exchange for signing a NDA so the amount cannot be disclosed.
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Quote from The Caterer article: »A senior chef last week won his unfair dismissal case against Julian Metcalfe, founder of both the Pret A Manger sandwich-shop chain and Itsu sushi restaurants in London.
Clive Fretwell, who had worked for 14 years at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, 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 “big money” 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.
The compensation agreed was undisclosed.«
»… trying to get rid of him« sounds very familiar to me. I wasn’t even a “partner” with a certain percentage stake in Pret, just a small fish, an underpaid and overworked team leader. But I raised big concerns and trauma on Pret’s systemic bullying culture where they tried to get rid of me as soon as I became bereaved.
In an The Independent article about the lawsuit Clive Fretwell described Metcalfe as a “strong personality”.
It’s worth doing some research into Clive Fretwell who is a respected chef having learned in France and cooks “proper” cuisine.
Staff and workers help Pret (and itsu) to build their brand and ONLY if they are part of their elite group of like-minded people who are only out for profit and having a laugh on the costs of workers, are they protected. If they’re not part of their way, regardless how hard they work and help make the brand successful, they’re out. That’s why the Pret Foundation Trust is a joke, a smokescreen to hide ruthless practices behind the happy facade and a PR stunt for brownie points with the public.
I had NO help from the Pret Foundation when I became bereaved and then bullied by the core people of Pret. NOTHING! Even though I asked for support from the foundation as well as an area manager later also IN WRITING asked Pret to place me under the PF.
Nopes. Nada. Instead, upon HR’s request run under David Carter, then head of HR, I was gaslit via another HQ staff and then fired days after my dad came out of a three-week coma. The more and the louder Pret, itsu and any large corporation talk about their good deeds, intentions and charity, the closer you need to take a look.
Since writing about Pret publicly for 4+ years now and all the social media posts I read and boycotts customers announced, one tweet is my alltime favourite tweet that puts down in a nutshell who Pret really are, I could not have said it in any better way:
Betty tweeted this in response to a call to boycott Pret after they made the pandemic temporary paycuts permanent, which came to no surprise to me. And Pret twice this year delayed paying staff, the 2. time using the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend, knowing the public would be distracted should the press get wind of it and banks are closed on bank holiday Mondays.
I immediately emailed CEO Pano Christou himself, openly copying in journalists including Sarah Butler from the Guardian who then reported on it. She also reported later, recently in August that CEO Pano Christou got a payrise and millions in bonus after cutting staff wages and benefits in 2021 during the height of the pandemic. I predicted that this would be the case back in April on my podcast.
A current Pret staff announced on Instagram that staff now sabotage Pret from within:
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And apart from the extreme under-staffing, even before the pandemic, this sabotaging as well as stressed workers leads to unsafe food practices. Mould and rat droppings on food as well as ongoing mislabelling of food.
I always say that all the slogans Pret have on their walls, all the sweet-talk, the ethical bla bla, all the “charity” Pret announce on their marketing and walls, you can be sure that 9 out of 10 times it’s the complete opposite. And the same goes for itsu. The nonsense Julian Metcalfe always says how much he cares for staff etc. while when you look at him speaking without the sound on, he looks angry, tense, and his words are “strong” to say the least. Clive Schlee is more slick, he was the Ronald McDonald clown for Pret. The smiley mascot hypnotising customers and staff with sweet-talk while having a horribly abusive mystery shopper scheme in place and naming, shaming and blaming shops publicly to the whole company when they fail.
At least Pano already removed the stupid brainwash slogan “lovingly handmade” from the packaging since I’m exposing Pret’s toxic bullying culture and unnecessary high stress. That one got the most on my nerves.
The sheer perversion of Pret’s conduct still has me speechless like it’s straight out of a twisted Hollywood script. I have no other word at the moment than to call this “perversion” what Pret did, my ordeal reaching to the top leadership. It couldn’t have gotten any higher than that. That’s why Pret don’t sue me and Julian Metcalfe upon learning who I am tuck in his tail and ran for the hills. But I have it all in writing. And when people ask why I didn’t go to court, I did, and I explain in detail in my audio interview at the bottom of this page.
I experienced and witnessed it many times as well as reading staff reviews on the favouritism that reigns in Pret while hard working people with skill are dumped like dirt, and the crooked staff take all the credit for the success skilled people bring to the company.
Further in the Telegraph article about Julian’s father David shows how frequent and used Julian was to mingle with the richest people and royalty. And there is then no surprise that he had connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Julian can’t help himself to be set apart from “normal” hard working people, using “lower classes” to advance his rich lifestyle. He doesn’t know it any other way while pretending to care.
Further quote about Julian’s father David: »In particular (David) Metcalfe had a flair for pairing New World entrepreneurs, ambassadors and tycoons with Old World aristocrats, intellectuals, royalty and social commentators. His dining table was frequented as much by dukes and royalty as it was by Detroit and Texas tycoons and politicians from across the political spectrum.«
Julian’s ex-wife is from the USA and is mentioned in Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book. It always comes around full circle. These people mix and mingle with each other, and it all remains with the richest people while claiming to be a trail blazing entrepreneur starting from nothing.
And as far as I have read in my research, I have not found anywhere that Julian mentions his connections to the Royal Family via his father and grandfather. I believe he doesn’t mention it as he wants to be seen as this groundbreaking entrepreneur having started from scratch. Many entitled rich people want to be seen as “self-made” millionaires while having gotten huge starting packages, loans or gifts from family to start or restart a business.
Little side note that I don’t know enough of to get into further, but “ARK” is from a quote on reddit, »Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), is an international children’s educational charity based in the UK. ARK held fundraisers every year from 2002 to 2012. Dozens of people listed from Jeffrey Epstein’s Black Book attended these ARK Galas.«
CHILDREN’S charity and Jeffrey Epstein go together like Pret A Manger/itsu go together with Trade Unions! *Irony off*
Also note, the woman in the picture is Pippa Holt, not Metcalfe’s ex-wife Melanie. This is just what I found in connection with this ARK charity gala event.
Current Pret CEO Pano Christou does the same, having learnt how to BS the public under Clive Schlee, portraying that he started in shops as if to say he started at the bottom. He started in shops alright, but he started as an assistant manager having come from McDonald’s management. Pret’s assistant manager role is position #4 in the shop hierachy. The lowest, #1 position is Team Member; 2. Hot Chef or Barista; 3. Team Leader (kitchen or shop) and then #4 is assistant manager before becoming the shop general manager.
He started with higher pay, £500 business attire that Pret paid for, monthly £50 to dry clean his clothes, “business” travels, management parties and galas, and all the perks that are thrown at assistant managers and higher up management.
Pano did not start at minimum-wage, wearing a Pret uniform and a silly cap with pins that could have dropped into food while staff weren’t allowed to wear jewellery or piercings. He didn’t labour for 9-12 hours in the high paced, noisy kitchen being shouted at by leaders and management. Since I point this out on my blog, he finally mentions in interviews that he started as an assistant manager instead of how he always said that he started “in shops” where people assume he was a low-paid team member.
Back to Metcalfe, many in the press and certainly business people love this success story, not wanting to hear how Metcalfe really is, as “success” often only comes when exploiting the masses and being “someone” regardless what it does to society as a whole.
Maybe Jeffrey Hyman’s friends, who occasionally mention him on Twitter at his birthday or anniversary of his death want to write a book about Hyman and make him known to the world, since Pret and Metcalfe refuse to honour, refuse to even mention him while using Hyman’s original font/sign. If you don’t want to mention or credit to the original person, at least have the integrity to not use anything the original person created as in an old font/sign.
Oh silly me! Pret/itsu and integrity?
Pret remain Pret, they lie, steal, manipulate and exploit in any way they can. Just your good ole greedy corporate, owned by in tax-haven Luxembourg based private equity firm JAB Holdings under the second richest family in Germany, the Reimanns with an extensive Nazi slavery past. And itsu now hooked up with Bridgepoint, Pret’s previous owners. And the real reason that Mectalfe hooked Pret up with McDonald’s was to get Pret into the U.S. market. Once in, they “divorced” their “marriage of convenience”. When I learnt about the McD and Pret collaboration, all alarm bells went on. It’s like a vegan business hooking up with a meat factory to get into a certain market. Red flag right there.
And Pret had to remove the word “natural” from all their marketing after getting slapped by the Advertising Standards Authority … but that’s another story for another day, not to mention Pret selling mouldy food with rat dropping on in 2022, while claiming to “freshly make” years after 2 csutomers died and over 20 got injured which Pret all ignored until it got public, and keep getting away with …
»And when your sun goes down, you’ll know, you’re like everybody else you know.« – Whitey
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UPDATE July 2024
I have observed over time ongoing reviews and complaints of food poisoning in itsu as well as Tesco product recalls of itsu products due to mislabelling.
Two recent reviews. Further complaints see review sites that also complain about dirty shops. Please keep in mind that itsu mainly do sushi (raw fish) and rice, two high risk foods.
itsu’s slogan is “Eat Beautiful”. Not sure how beautiful it is to sit in filthy stores eating spoilt raw fish and hard rice.
Last and least, Metcalfe made former Pret CEO Clive Schlee CEO again, this time for itsu (shops). So far to Schlee’s 2019 “retirement”, sneaking out of 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 “retired” 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 “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou. I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.
I really don’t want to waste a blog post on this guy, but it’s important to show how some people want to be in denial, go against whistleblowers and try all sorts of “tactics” to deny that they don’t care about customer deaths and staff exploitation.
I responded to a tweet that has now been deleted by a Pret customer in Switzerland about Pret opening a new shop there. The person, who on his profile had “Journalist” as well as “Media Personality” stated, said “finally some good sandwiches”.
I replied with a tip to be cautious regarding the “good” sandwiches and posted my blog post with customer complaints on mouldy food etc. all with photo evidence. He then replied with the TYPICAL set of tweets that die-hard Pret fans do. It later turned into silly and also nasty gaslighting, lying, getting his tweets switched that I couldn’t reply anymore.
My response to his now deleted tweet with English translation underneath:
The others who are tweeted in either remained silent or encouraged him to ignore me. Cancel culture as well as enabling behaviour by the book.
Mould, stale bread, rat poo, bugs, flies, hair,plastic in food with photo evidence:
Denial or Tactic #1 – Never happened to “ME”, therefore the problem doesn’t exist:
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“Never happened to me in London” – translated = therefore this problem doesn’t exist (and I don’t care that customers died, and Pret having ignoring it).
My responses are to show further evidence and sharing that in my 10 years in Pret KNOWING Pret from behind the scenes including senior leadership and CEOs, that I’ve seen a lot in Pret. I also link to the customer deaths and so on.
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My tweets can just be followed from above link.
I then tease him saying that he probably doesn’t want Pret to get bad press with all the things I link him to, to which he responds:
I then apologize, which was the mistake, because since then he kept accusing me of offending or attacking him in hopes I would fall for his cheap gaslighting.
The Google translate doesn’t translate well here, I basically said “Of course (not assuming anything). Apoloogies.” etc.
To which I explain again that 1. Pret’s name is still on franchises and Pret THEMSELVES have and continue to screw up in London, UK where Pret are head quartered. And that Pret themselves have ignored TWO customer deaths and over a dozen injuries before it got public. I worked at Pret when people died and wasn’t even told, despite my responsibility having been health & safety.
So, I link him to the two customer deaths in the news on YouTube to have a VISUAL bringing it closer to him, as he is also a father:
Tactic #3 – Sure it’s bad but this would never happen in Switzerland.
“yes bad Clearly. Here in Switzerland, everything is declared everywhere.” = Yes, bad, but that happened way over there in the UK, HERE in perfect Switzerland we have strict food standards.
To which I pointed him AGAIN to a recent customer video from BERLIN, Germany where there are also strict food safety laws, and the video showed how stale the bread is.
I also explained that mouldy food continues to happen in the UK as well as MISLABELLED products where Pret are now breaking the LAW, “Natasha’s Law”.
End of correspondence.
I already packed this tweet exchange away into the past and moved on, when he tweeted the next day a German news article about a woman having bitten into a mouldy McDonald’s product. He now deleted this tweet also, like he deleted his initial “fan” tweet about “good sandwiches” in Pret. But here are my responses to his ridiculous McD comparison.
Tactic #4– It’s not only Pret, it’s also other businesses, therefore this is “normal” in large chains:
Tactic #5 – Continued gaslighting accusing me of offending and attacking him in hopes I become insecure, while it is HIM that’s insecure like heck:
Just follow the links and click translate otherwise the post gets too long.
I kept asking him to give precise examples where I offended or attacked him. That didn’t come. And by then he could have just blocked me. But instead he switched his replies to me so that I couldn’t reply anymore, while he kept tweeting at me. Very nasty, cowardly and childish behaviour by an adult “journalist” and “media personality” from Switzerland.
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Tactic #6 – SEVERAL things: He deleted information, was embarrassed to behave so poorly while a journalist, then lied he never claimed to be a journo.
DELETED “Journalist” off his profile after I addressed him as a journalist having seen his claim on his profile and asked him to not take things personal. He then lied that he never claimed to have been a journalist and asks me to check his profile where he just deleted “Journalist”. I pointed out to him that I already checked it and that he deleted it off his profile. He now added it again, see screenshots.
This is then when he started to make all his replies to me “non-repliable” anymore (I just made up that word 😉 ), but he continued to tweet at me. I then blocked him to which he blocked as well. He said that I am an Aldi fan because I gave a metaphor on Aldi vs Lidl to explain his ridiculous comparison between McDonald’s and Pret. I explained that Pret claimed to be fresh and wholesome which McDonald’s never claimed, and that the whole world knows how bad McD is. But Pret was successful in fooling the public for decades.
He then tried to trick me with the Aldi example and then I couldn’t reply anymore. But I replied later via my other account after screenshot some of his tweets before he deleted.
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Unable to reply to his tweets:
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His behaviour is a typical bullying behaviour by the book. And he is enabled by others who pad him on the back.
He received tons of information about my own story as well as customer fatalities and injuries, staff exploitation etc., yet he pretends to not understand what all this was about. Then he deletes his initial tweet and the McDonald’s tweet as he was caught out being indifferent and doesn’t want to be seen as a journalist who is a big fan of Pret.
In a nutshell, this guy was shocked and impressed to have come across so much evidence in how bad Pret really are. Many people respond negatively because they feel shocked and called out to have fallen for Pret. He was so occupied with it that he tweeted the McDonald’s mould issue to me the next day where I was already finished and done with this feed.
But I always respond to anyone and then move on. And I don’t really want to waste a blog post on him, but want to show how SLICK gaslighting, lying, deleting, accusing etc. works in cancel culture.
It’s a shame, because I am more disappointed of people claiming to be journalists than the average Joe who rants on social media.
The last time I came across such a toxic, gaslighting, cowardly person with lofty claims was literally the top Pret senior leadership team. This Gerry guy cowardly switched his tweets so I can’t respond anymore, but kept tweeting at me while I couldn’t respond. Then I blocked him, which I rarely do, so that he can’t continue to tweet while I can’t respond.
I then tweeted my response to him via my other account and now write this blog post and pass this on to his journalism buddies because his and my correspondence are public.
This was TYPICAL denial, cancel culture, trying to manipulate JUST because the person did not want to look objectively at what I presented as huge evidence including customer pictures, news articles, my own experience. THE worst thing that can happen that customers died and Pret IGNORED it has NO meaning to this Gerry guy and his friends. They are bystanders, onlookers and enablers who don’t care except if this would happen to them. Very sad.
And by all means, mute or block me, but to “silence” me and then keep tweeting at me where I can’t respond is COWARDLY. And this is why I call this guy out now.
If this Gerry guy says anything “positive” about his encounter with me in the future, stay away, be cautious, he has lied and played his tricks like an insecure yes-man.
Oh, und Gerry, guck mal wer alles von Twitter weggerannt ist nachdem ich getweeted hab 😉
Du hast noch sehr, sehr viel zu lernen was Pret A Manger betrifft, und ich habe dich jetzt angespornt Pret zu helfen deren Fassade aufrecht zu halten. Ran an die Arbeit, Gerry! Put your name to Pret and STAND behind everything they do, with your name.
I chased Pret RE-founder Julian Metalfe, former Pret CEO Clive Schlee and current CEO Pano Christou off Twitter. And Julian Metcalfe is in Jeffrey Epstein’s address book. Link in the YouTube description.
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment 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.
For more reviews of shop managers, OPs managers and HQ staff (and it’s not good!) on Pret’s leadership between 2020 – September 2023, please see Pano Christou’s Reputation post. And even those are just the tip of the iceberg.
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2021 text from here on out.
Pano Christou has his own story in how he applied for a job at Pret 20 odd years ago and was rejected. Some time later he reapplied and was accepted. He climbed up the “ladder” and was the shadow of Clive Schlee for a few years. As Schlee’s time was coming to an end after two customers died and the new owners JAB took over, Pano as UK Managing Director briefly stepped into a new role of COO that was created as a stepping stone to become the new CEO. The role of COO didn’t exist before that and doesn’t currently exist in Pret.
What Pano Christou is not telling people immediately is that he started in Pret as an Assistant Manager, having come from McDonald’s as a Manager. Managers from other companies always start as Assistant Managers in Pret. Never as a Team Member from the bottom and not as a shop Manager.
What people who have never worked at Pret don’t understand is that the structure in Pret is extremely complex and micromanaging. Pret advertises that 95% of Pret Managers have started at the bottom in Pret. Funny, because a few years ago the numbers were 80-something %. And yet, it should be normal that most, if not all Managers grow from within the company.
Pret’s career path is super complex.
If you REALLY start at the bottom on the shop floor or kitchen, you start at a little over minimum wage, but have to work for it 3 times over and have to wait YEARS to get a pay-rise.
It takes THREE position to even reach the Assistant Manager role that Pano Christou started with.
Team Member (and after 10-ish days Team Member Star – ignore that one, it’s just psychology!)
NEXT Level:
Barista or Hot Chef or Kitchen Team Member Trainer (in my time Pret had the role of Shift Runner between 2008-ish and 2015)
NEXT Level:
Team Leader (either Kitchen Leader or Floor Leader)
NEXT Level:
And THEEENN when you went through those “hurdles” you might have had a chance to become an Assistant Manager (mostly of the Kitchen, sometimes of the Floor).
Mind you, these positions, especially from Assistant Manager (AM) onward are very coveted of course! Staff get their elbows out and screw each other over for this position like in every job. Some even rise up the ranks via the bedroom. This you’ll expect in a law firm, and certainly politics and Hollywood, but a sandwich chain? Really? Alright!
What makes the AM position so attractive is that they delegate to the Team Leaders, who really do the hard work and run the shops, bossing the Team Leaders around and blaming them for everything. The AM is the filling of the sandwich between General Manager (GM) and Team Leader (TL) bossing Team Members around and yet not being responsible. The AM isn’t as responsible as the General Manager (GM) is. Perfect spot to be in. Bossing people around, yet not being responsible. Pret within the company is known for having too many “leaders” who struggle for the top position while Pret top leadership enjoy throwing crumbs to them to fight over.
To better see the text in the below screenshots, please click “ctrl and +” (ctrl and plus) and to decrease again “ctrl and -” (ctrl and minus) or click on the links underneath the screenshots.
After Assistant Manager comes the General Manager (GM), then Group Manager responsible for about 4 – 5 shops in an area, then Operations (Area) Manager (or OPs) of about 10 -14 shops in an area, and then you just fly so high you forget where you came from! And here’s where it’s ALL about the money.
What is so attractive to the AM role is that this is where the money starts to flow and where people will have to “prove” if they belong to the ELITE of the top Management who reap all the harvest that the “slaves” below them labour for. And yet again, even the AM and GM still have to prove if they belong to the ELITE of the top leadership of Pret. And yet, GMs and AMs increasingly complain on Glassdoor and Indeed that their contracted hours (used to be 42.5 per week) now 35 hours p/w on the payroll, but they work at least 60 hours as unpaid overtime. GMs and AMs are as exploited as TMs are.
When a staff becomes an AM, at least in my time and Pano Christou’s time, they got £500 from Pret to go shopping for business attire. Then they got £50 a month for the dry cleaning bill of their business attire, insurance, extra holidays, more quarterly bonus, SICK PAY (that’s a big one!), executive parties, a loan from Pret for annual travel which costs 10 months for a 12 month annual ticket … and a host of other benefits. This is pre-Covid of course. But I’m painting a picture of Pano Christou’s “rags to riches” (shop floor) beginnings in Pret.
Pano did not start on minimum wage plus a few pennies and working triple for it with a Team Leader or AM down his neck. He surely wore a Pret uniform for a month plus / minus to “experience” how it is to REALLY start at the bottom.
A £500 wardrobe and £50 a month to dry clean it, sick pay … and all the stuff they showered on you until you realized, you’d better get higher because the shop floor sucks!
In a nutshell, Pano Christou started at position number 4 on the shop floor, NOT at the bottom!
#4 Assistant Manager (the real benefits and money start here 🏆🏆🏆 )
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A GM review, quote:
»Amazing in the beginning – showered with benefits and entitlements and opportunities to advance. Terrible once you see how horribly mismanaged and micromanaged the company is. Zero care for human beings and nothing but boosting sales and company growth.«
And here again, yes Pret pays a little more than the competition, also because Pret has the kitchen production that are mini sandwich factories, and staff have to slave double and triple for it and don’t get a pay-rise in years! Pret has no choice to pay a little more because if they would pay McDonald’s wages NO-ONE would work at Pret as it is too micro managing, back breaking work, a bullying environment and very complex!
And it’s a dead give-away that it took Pano 23 years to reach CEO level! I pressured former CEO and Pano’s mentor Clive Schlee on Twitter to step down after he and Pano (when UK Managing Director) ignored two customer deaths and 20+ injuries before it got public. Reluctantly Schlee “retired” to spare him the embarrassment of a resignation. He is on the board and own half of itsu with his body Pret RE-founder Julian Metcalfe.I wrote a small exposé on Metcalfe, his connection to the Royal Family and how I chased him off Twitter.
If the mounting pressure to step down would not have happened from several on social media, Schlee would still be CEO. And Pano now is stuck in the old Pret-way and is not at all inventive, but bows to the pressure to expand fast to the ongoing detriment of quality and safety.
Pret is very good in making simple things very complicated! So, the little higher wage is the carrot on the stick. It’s a trap to lure people into working at Pret and then they get stuck believing and hoping that “one day” it may get better … And when the carrot has shriveled up, staff are too exhausted to recognize the bullsh!t for what it is.
Pano’s “popularity” on review sites and the legacy Clive Schlee leaves behind:
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UPDATE 2026 (5 years later!): Scores for Pano Christou and Pret, more than double the amount of reviews, but not much improvement:
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From Rags to Riches, the Pret A Manger “Love Treatment”
“Lovingly” handmade … (… and brainwashed)
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Bonus: Pano Christou putting his Emotional Labour into effect to spill some numbers after the first lock-down in a leaked video I received from a Pret staff and have passed on to the BBC:
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret. 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 was mentioned by the BBC.
Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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