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 “replaces”?
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. 😉
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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 “encounter” 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! 😀
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Clive Schlee, who “retired” 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 exposé on net-worth £215 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, £700 million debt and other issues. (£800,000 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:
»The 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, we’ll definitely be much, much bigger than Pret A Manger because we’ll have a really fast-growing relationship with customers and no one else can supply the sort of food that we do.”«
Metcalfe’s nonsense is discreetly shut down, quote:
»Yet most analysts viewed Metcalfe’s ambition to take on Pret as overly optimistic, given the strong presence of the sandwich shop in cities across the UK. “Comparing Itsu to Pret A Manger feels a bit of a red herring,” said Clive Black, head of research at Shore Capital. “It would require quite an enormous organic store opening programme or an acquisition of a significant number of stores, or a collapse of Pret sales.”«
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? 😉
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 “versus” itsu, but Pret “and” 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 “democratic”. 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 … and mentored (diaper changed) current Pret CEO Pano Christou …
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) “resigning” after his “visit” 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:
»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.
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 £700 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 “foul” 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. 😉
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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. 😀
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 Staff←
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 “replaces”? 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 £5 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 £1 and £2 coins or bank notes. So yes, a £5 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 “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou. I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more on my work with the press.
And how Pret RE-founder and itsu founder Julian Metcalfe threw Pret CEO Pano Christou under the bus! 🤣
UPDATE 26.04.2024 at the very bottom how Pret “bribes” the Telegraph with sandwiches.
I try not to write a long post here (yeah right!), and just put screenshots of recent Telegraph articles by about 4 – 5 different journalists who seem to be on a Pret crusade, some because they are coffee subscription customers and p!ssed off with Pret.
I will just post a few quotes from each article, and the reader can google the articles themself.
Even though Pret’s subscription was a “rip-off” from the start with many issues, the recent press reports all started when Pret changed their app from QR code-sharing ability to login-function only. But that wasn’t even the problem, the issue was that many customers couldn’t log into the app, or where prompted again to submit a new phone number or bank details. An absolute mess. I said it before, that HOW COME a multi-billion pound company like Pret have SO MANY technical issues and get awarded “digital technology leaders awards” for the mess. Unless, it’s by design!
What most haven’t realised is that Pret have BROKEN their terms and conditions, having given customers 5 days notice instead of the 40 days in their T&Cs, which is typical Pret. I write about this in How Pret make profit from their Subscription.
And for the first time since I write about Pret from 2018 on, consumer rights people are advising customers to contact them and already give some basic legal advise, like pointing to the “Consumer Rights Act 2015” which includes digital products.
Don’t forget the 5000 complaints in 2021 which got the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) involved after Pret refused to do the expensive frappes and smoothies on the subscription under various excuses. I worked with the BBC on this. “Pret customers complain over drink subscription deal“.
But here to the recent Telegraph crusade against Pret with just a few quotes from the articles:
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09. May 2023 – Tom Haynes is especially on a mission a year later …
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»Well, I’m done. No one needs five Americanos a day, much less a £2.34 croissant. As I type this I am cancelling my Pret subscription and, once I’m done, I’m washing that thermos flask.« – Tom Haynes
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13. March 2024 – So far so good …
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»News of the impending change sparked a backlash among customers on social media who argued using the subscription would be less convenient.« – Daniel Woolfson
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10. April 2024 – Ooops … Here comes trouble!
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»Another [customer] wrote “Pret subscription absolute joke. Broken app leaves me paying for something I can’t use plus really rude (although I’m sure equally frustrated) workers.”
Some customers also reported being unable to login to the app after they were told the SIM card in their phone did not match the phone number linked to their account.« – Bláthnaid Corless
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11. April 2024
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»Experts have also said that customers who have been unable to use their subscriptions are entitled to a refund under consumer rights law.
“If Pret subscribers cannot access their QR this is in effect a suspension of their Pret subscription and on that basis this should result in a refund for the period of suspension,” Gary Rycroft, a partner at Joseph A. Jones & Co, told The Telegraph.
“Even if this was not explicit in the T&Cs this is the correct outcome under principles of contract law,” Mr Rycroft, who is also a resident legal expert on the BBC1 Consumer Affairs programme Rip Off Britain, added.« – Bláthnaid Corless
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12. April 2024 – Pret’s TYPICAL “technical” issues!
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»Pret subscribers claim to have found a new glitch with the coffee company’s app which sees reward vouchers disappear before they can be redeemed.
The loyalty scheme sees customers earn “stars” every time they spend money in a store. When they reach 10 stars, they receive a “Pret Perk”, which ranges from bakery treats to popcorn and crisps.
One customer told The Telegraph that her perk, a free muffin, disappeared from her app before she had a chance to use it.
She said that she had been able to claim her drinks, but that the reward had “just vanished”.« – Madeleine Ross
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ALSO 12. April 2024
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»Pret A Manger customers say they have abandoned their subscriptions as the offer cannot be used in service stations or abroad and is “no longer worth it”.
Others have complained about being unable to get the drinks they want, such as iced coffees and frappes, with some stores implementing a “hot drinks only” policy.« – Bláthnaid Corless
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ALSO12. April 2024 – Pret’s “ex-lover” is back! DON’T MESS with a customer who happens to be a journalist! 😀
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»Oh, 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 haven’t had a coffee from Pret ever since.« – Tom Haynes
And speaking about being proven right dear Tom Haynes, I’ve been exposing Pret’s dodgy dealings publicly since May 2018, even before the customer deaths became public, with me also not knowing about it. Yet, unlike what I do with journalists’ writings, crediting to it, I am NOT credited for all the work I do (except by Mike Powell for the BBC). But there you go. Mainstream media for you.
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15, April 2024 – Reminder of the BBC article I and journalist Mike Powell worked on that got the ball rolling on Pret’s subscription, which is often referenced in the Telegraph articles without crediting.
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»It was plagued with rumours that the popular smoothies and iced drinks would be scrapped – as they eventually were, last year. Customers complained that they couldn’t always get the drinks they wanted, when they wanted them, owing to various issues such as a lack of ice or other ingredients.
Excluded stores, which include 40 in the UK, mainly service stations with the addition of Exeter University, mean that subscribers were denied their drinks when they most wanted them.« – Madeleine Ross
ALSO 15. April 2024 – Here’s where it get’s interesting!
Julian Metcalfe who RE-founded Pret in 1986 is throwing Pret CEO Pano Christou under the bus!
Also, former CEO Clive Schlee who is or was Christou’s mentor for years owns half of Metcalfe’s company itsu. Schlee must be p!ssed off as well.
BUT as I always say, Clive Schlee ran Pret into an iceberg, and Pano Christou is sinking it!
Christou having been with Pret BEFORE and LONGER than Clive Schlee (started as assistant MANAGER in shops) has NO excuse for mismanaging Pret like he does. Apart from what staff including shop managers say about Pret and their leadership including Pano, 74% of customers on Trustpilot (1&2 star reviews combined as of mid April 2024) disapprove of Pret on a variety of issues, many having sworn to never set foot inside Pret again. (Now, watch the reviews turn more positive once Pret and die-hard Pret fans become aware of it 😉 ).
Pano has his head in the sand, and is only interested in building his name and legacy to have expanded Pret worldwide under instructions by owners in Germany/Luxembourg. Aggressive expansion to the detriment of food, drink and service quality (see Trustpilot again).
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»The founder of Pret a Manger says its customers have been “let down” by the fiasco over its loyalty programme, amid claims of “chaotic” management at the sandwich chain.« – Gordon Reyner
YET, Metcalfe isn’t better. I also saw complaints from itsu customers regarding itsu’s app not working, foul smelling salmon sushi, mislabeling etc. I wrote a small exposé on Metcalfe after I chased him off Twitter (now X). His connection to the Royal Family since childhood, why some Asian people don’t like him, the 2 “Jeffreys” he doesn’t seem to want to be associated with, what his staff say etc.: Julian Metcalfe Family Line.
And I can’t help thinking that Metcalfe throwing Christou under the bus might be a retaliation for Pret having distanced themselves from Metcalfe after he made the “eugenics” lockdown comments to the Daily Mail. So, Metcalfe now slaps Pano Christou via the press! 😀
And to me it seems like Metcalfe’s way to distance himself from Pret after Pret did that to him when he fncked up!
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Little fun side note: When Metcalfe made his comments and Pret distanced themselves from him, Metcalfe came on Twitter to do damage control but kept ranting. I then tweeted itsu staff reviews to Metcalfe, and him lacking media savvy, he kept retweeting my posts. He then deleted most of his Tweets and deleted his account entirely after just 2 days on Twitter, but not before I screenshot most of his Tweets: 😉
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And while Metcalfe throws Pret under the bus, co-RE-founder Sinclair Beecham comes to Pret’s rescue (again!) after he invested in Pret already during the pandemic. News article say Beecham will steer the expansion as Pret are tasked to double iin size worldwide by 2026, BUT knowing Pret’s lies and how customer complaints are through the roof, with many having turned their backs on Pret, it seems more like Beecham returns to Pret (after he invested already during the pandemic) to steer Pret ITSELF!
Customer complaints, high staff turnover, ongoing bad press (please see link at the very bottom) and other issues. Pano Christou doesn’t seem to cope running Pret.
Pano is flying around the world expanding Pret, that seems to be successful. Meanwhile Pret at home is in shambles. And I believe that’s either the real reason Beecham is back, or Pano is instructed to stop flying around the world, stay at head quarters in London and sort out the mess, letting Beecham seal deals globally.
Pret also seem to be in financial trouble as they let another longtime head office staff go recently. I smell a rat! Something’s burning in their kitchen!
Bloomberg 24. April 2024
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»Pret A Manger is shaking up its board and bringing back its co-founder to help guide the UK coffee-and-sandwich chain through a rapid overseas expansion.«
Yep, CEO Pano Christou doesn’t cope. It’s like Prime Minister Rishi Sunak bringing back former PM David Cameron. Pret really need a COMPLETE shake-up as in, fire all the old top execs who are stuck in Pret’s old “love-bombing” way where they pride themselves to be hiring according to “personality” rather than skill! Replace the whole of HQ with innovative AND courageous leaders.
16. April 2024 – Another side note: Some news outlets are still using the old Pret logo and haven’t realised yet that Pret was already banned by ASA in 2018 from claiming their food is “natural”. Pret then changed their marketing to “freshly made” food, but that’s also a lie as I know how it works behind the scenes and customers posting pictures of mouldy food to social media.
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»Tech experts have suggested the main reason Pret has cracked down on account sharing is to harvest personal data about its customers, which it can then sell to advertisers.
Jake Moore, cybersecurity advisor at internet security firm ESET, said Pret will “have already planned to write off five coffees per customer”, knowing the cost will effectively be offset by data harvested through the app.« – Tom Haynes
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The following is one of several articles around mid April 2024 that puts Julian Metcalfe in a positive light since the Pret app debacle. Here it seems the Telegraph is “siding” with Metcalfe while throwing Pret under the bus! Not sure if Metcalfe has connections to the Telegraph as he seems to be put to the forefront, while Pret are send to the naughty corner.
Yet, the Telegraph and the press in general don’t bother to look deeper into Metcalfe’s issues.
22. April 2024
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»There have been tales of staff switching off machines for making iced coffee – and telling customers they are broken – because they simply can’t make the drinks fast enough to meet demand. Some customers complain that their favourite drinks are never available.
“It has put the members of staff under almost unbelievable pressure,” one former Pret employee says. “They suddenly threw thousands of extra people at the staff without the right equipment to cope with the demand.« – Gordon Reyner
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I will update if the Telegraph crusade continues.
Here’s one, as I mentioned above that journalists mainly report when THEIR OWN pocket is affected, an insider allegedly shared that Pret send thousands of pounds worth of sandwiches to the Telegraph to appease the series of anti-Pret reports.
Vie Twitter/X:
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For more recent press articles on Pret’s dodgy dealings, please see: Bad Press for Bad 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. 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.
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 “ethical” 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 “adult” section where they host porn sites. This means that every WordPress user who is logged in and does a search within the “reader” 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 “master cup”. 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 😉
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»Oh, 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 haven’t had a coffee from Pret ever since.«
How delicious it is to be proven right? Tell me that since May 2018 😉
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 “becoming” 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:
»But the success story has gradually soured, one bad piece of PR following another.«
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 £700 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. 😀
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 £800,000 fine down from £1.6 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 “I never felt so sick to my stomach” 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 “borrow” 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 £8.91 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 £8.91 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! 💪 💚
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And of course now in 2024 CEO bonus is £5 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 “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.
(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).
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.
As the Ghislaine Maxwell trial started today and the UK media remains silent after I sent the below to the press, and Maxwell’s camp tried hard to keep evidence out of court, I re-post this again and again!
UPDATE August 2022
My brief “case study” on Julian Metcalfe, it’s not indepth as I want to highlight something specific: Julian Metcalfe’s Family Line.
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So here I am, minding my own business when I receive an email from an anonymous person with a link to page 38 for a “black book” of none other then convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who some believe may have been “suicided”. As I am contacted by former and current Pret staff, as well as now itsu issues that I pass on to the press, and at times it gets reported on, I get info as my blog is the main link between behind the scenes of Pret/itsu and the public/press.
So, the black address book of Epstein, what names do I see?
Pret A Manger co-“re”-founder and itsu founder, net-worth £215 million, Julian Metcalfe and his former wife Melanie with two addresses and phone numbers.
Of course it’s not a crime to be in a convicted pedophile & sex trafficker’s address book. And to be fair, Metcalfe was married to Melanie between 1992 and 2005. The first allegation on Epstein to police came in 2005, so technically people didn’t/couldn’t know about Epstein’s crimes. But still! Itsu staff have reviewed Metcalfe as sexist, racist, aggressive etc. (see YouTube below). Metcalfe comes from a long line of elite British folk and grew up wealthy and privileged. And in an interview with the Telegraph in July 2021 Metcalfe’s words are headlined with “Only the fittest will survive high street cull”.
This is very much in line with Metcalfe’s words to the Daily Mail last year regarding lock-down and being happy to sacrifice a few thousand very old and vulnerable people for the hospitality industry (again, please see YouTube below).
So, only Metcalfe knows why he is in Epstein’s infamous “black book” that has Ghislane Maxwell shake in her boots! And it doesn’t need to mean anything. But I find it noteworthy to mention after Metcalfe’s own aggressive words to the press (and other words that he deleted after I confronted him on Twitter), and what others say about him.
Quote from the Western Journal: »Epstein employee Alfredo Rodriguez called the list the “Holy Grail” or “Golden Nugget” that would map out the billionaire’s alleged underage sex network. Rodriguez first tried to sell it to journalists; instead, authorities seized it as evidence.«
I was sent this because I chased Metcalfe off Twitter last year and put it on a YouTube slide where I explained why Pret can’t be distanced to Metcalfe, after Pret made a statement of distancing themselves when Metcalfe made his appalling “eugenicist” lock-down comments to none other than the Daily Mail tabloid of all papers! Dumb move! After I chased him off Twitter, he’s become a little more media savvy now!
On his 2 day Twitter stint, I posted itsu staff reviews to Metcalfe where he is alleged to be sexist, racist, aggressive etc. Metcalfe continued his dumbness by RT’ing my Tweets to him! I suppose someone from Pret then must have warned him of who I am, as he then deleted his Twitter account the next day after only 2 days there, not knowing I already made screenshots!
I even tweeted at him saying, “will see how long you can hold on Twitter”, never thinking he lasted only 2 days, as other Pret execs ran off Twitter since I exposed Pret there.
His deletedTweets:
I use YouTube as my blog url is blocked completely on Facebook/Instagram even in private messages! But they can’t block YouTube!
Please note, I changed my Twitter handle “LateNightGirlMe to @expretDOTorg, as “late night girl” doesn’t make any sense for new readers. I explain how I came to my former handle in below audio player interview.
Most of his deleted Tweets where he retweeted my Tweets here on YouTibe:
Little side note: Former Pret CEO Clive Schlee is very close friends and business partner with Julian Metcalfe. And Schlee is on the board of directors and owns half of itsu. But no, Schlee isn’t in Epstein’s address book, I’ve already checked! 😉
And a little piece about one of the phone books, as there is more than 1 it seems:
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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 (a close friend & business partner of Julian Metcalfe who also owns half of Metcalfe’s company itsu). 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.
… 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! 😀
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 £1000 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. 😀
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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 £215million 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!
»And when your sun goes down you’ll know, you’re like everybody else you know.«– Whitey
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UPDATE 2022
My small exposé 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 “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou. I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more on my work with the press.
Two customers dead. Several injured. The suicide of an Assistant Manager. Pret’s “natural” 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 “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.
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.
There are 2 conditions for which there is no cure:
Foot-in-mouth disease and stupidity. Arrogance is close behind!
So, £210 million man Julian Metcalfe actually had the balls (or one glass of wine too many) to come on Twitter for less than 24 hours and continue his rant in public. I anticipated that he’d delete some Tweets, but that he ran off that quickly was a surprise. Maybe he was drunk when he decided to hit the keyboard so publicly. And probably someone sensible, a certain PR[et] person pulled the plug! Too late Mr. Metcalfe, I’ve made screenshots!
I didn’t screenshot all of his contradicting Tweets, just the ones where he retweeted my Tweets and those that confirm how utterly uncaring, self-serving and arrogantly detached from reality this man is.
UPDATE December 2020 – I made a YouTube slide on below screenshots for easier view:
His second, follow-up Tweet confirms his comment to the Daily Mail of his survival-of-the-fittest mentality: “we cannot put forth the needs of the few over those of the many.”
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For anyone who still hasn’t heard, this is what Metcalfe said to the Daily Mail in response to UK’s second lock-down:
»Julian 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.«
After his first two Tweets which are NOT an apology, his third Tweet goes straight into HIS priorities, desperately trying to divert from his disastrous comments, mind you he NEVER apologized but re-emphasized his comments:
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My third Tweet to him where I wondered how long he will last on Twitter given that current Pret CEO Pano Christou deleted his Twitter account in July 2019 (after he blocked me) and former CEO Clive Schlee’s account was deleted in July 2020. I didn’t expect Metcalfe to quit that fast though. Quite something that a peasant little “late night girl” like me can bring THREE multi-million £ CEOs to quit Twitter!
Pano Christou’s Twitter account where he blocked me:
His Twitter account before he deleted it, his handle is now taken by another Pano Christou from Canada:
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And his page on 01. July 2019 before another Pano Christou took that handle:
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CEO Pano Christou is “hiding” on Linkedin where customers and low-wage staff most likely don’t mingle to confront him like they do on Twitter. Pano learnt from Clive Schlee’s Twitter mistakes. But Julian Metcalfe dug his grave on Twitter yesterday.
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And to my surprise Metcalfe started to retweet a number of my Tweets, especially after I linked him the Glassdoor reviews of his staff.
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After I linked him the Glassdoor reviews of accusations of him being sexist, a bully, creating panic etc., he really dared to respond with this:
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And his claim that his staff “begged” him for zero hour contracts is so disgusting, I’m still trying to find words …
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To which I responded:
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And a few other Tweets he posted. But the one that topped it for me is:
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If THAT Tweet didn’t put the nail in his coffin, I don’t know what will.
Now either Metcalfe didn’t know who I am, or he approached my Tweets in his lofty way assuming he can just pull his sexist, patronizing number on me before being educated and urged to stop. He deleted some of his Tweets and later his account.
One of his Tweets I didn’t screenshot where he said that the Daily Mail took his comment out of context. My question which he never responded to of course:
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Keep tweeting Mr. Metcalfe. Keep tweeting.
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I tweeted to him a thread of staff reviews on Glassdoor that were posted at different dates, as he says that reviews are biased and can be written by anyone anonymously. That’s a fair point, but then the positive reviews can be biased, too. It works both ways if it was the case of fake reviews. Here are only the few reviews from 2018 – 2020 I troubled myself to post to him as screenshots, in no particular order.
I linked to the list of those reviews. Press ctrl & + (plus sign) to enlarge the images:
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Concerning staff “begging” him for zero hour contracts:
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“The founder. The biggest con.An irrational bully who uses intimidation and lies to get his own way.” …
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UPDATE:
Julian Metcalfe has a second Twitter account as @JulianMetcalfe_. It’s not clear if he started this simultaneously or before/after his @JulianEMetcalfe account was opened AND closed in one day. I doubt he’ll return to continue spreading his thoughts minus an apology. But it’s always worth a try.
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 £210 million, hear this his words and show him the finger. I lost even further respect for Metcalfe. Spoiled, privileged prat!
And just as a reminder what Metcalfe said to the Daily Mail days ago:
»Julian 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.«
And regarding Pret A Manger’s treatment of staff, just a few of the many staff reviews I put on a YouTube slide. I listed many more complaints on Pret’s bullying culture on “Caught in the Act at Pret A Manger“.
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. Thank you for reading/listening.
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: »Julian 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.«
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 £210 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 “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.
This link My Pret A Manger Ordeal is a simple and easier overview to link straight to some of the most important blog entries, summarizing my trauma with Pret A Manger. There is much more writing on my website / blog, but the links on the map are the main articles to narrow down, pointing to the main issues of my trauma with Pret.
On the “map”:
click on the – minus bottom right to decrease and get an overview of the whole map
click on the dots to expand or close menu.
click on the -> arrow on a particular title to link straight to the article
hold the mouse clicked, “grabbing” it to move map around as you would with Google map
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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.
Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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