Pret sales jump as it focuses on towns and suburbs

Pret A Manger says it has returned to profit after a tough few years, as it shifts its focus away from London and towards regional towns and suburbs.

Sales at the sandwich chain were £357.8m in the six months to June - up 230% on last year when lockdowns hit the business hard.

Stores outside the capital, including new ones in Leeds and York, now account for most of Pret's growth, it said.

Some two thirds of its UK sites are now outside the Square Mile, it added.

Like all hospitality businesses, Pret had to close its stores for long spells during the pandemic and move to a takeaway model.

However, the chain said it had returned to profit in March after posting bruising losses of £225.9m and £343m in 2021 and 2020.

Since September last year, Pret has opened 27 new shops across the country, mainly outside of central London, taking its UK portfolio to 442 shops.

The firm - which was founded in London in 1986 - said some 36% of its UK shops were now located in regional cities and towns.

Pret has also been expanding overseas where it runs 558 shops. Boss Pano Christou said it had struck new franchise deals in India, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The chain has tried to innovate since the pandemic hit, launching among other things a drinks subscription service which initially sparked thousands of customer complaints over the limited availability of some beverages.

But Pret said its new coffee subscription service - which allows customers to have up to five hot drinks every day - was now used over a million times a week.

It said the service boosted customer loyalty, with subscribers "typically spending four times as much with Pret than non-subscribers".