Pret A Manger brews up Canadian expansion drive

Pret A Manger is to expand to Canada as part of its goal to double the size of its business within five years.

The coffee chain has partnered with A&W Food Services, which runs more than 1,000 burger restaurants in Canada, for an initial trial period.

During the two-year phase Pret coffee and food will be available in A&W sites and, if successful, the company will be granted exclusive rights to expand the Pret brand across Canada.

Last month the coffee chain, which cut thousands of jobs after sales plummeted during the pandemic, announced plans to open more than 200 new UK shops and expand into five new markets by the end of 2023.

Pret already runs around 550 shops across the UK, US, France, Dubai, Hong Kong and Dubai and employs nearly 8,000 team members globally, including 6,400 in the UK.

Pano Christou, chief executive officer at Pret, said: "Over the past year, we delivered more change than in 30 years of Pret history – and it's all about bringing Pret to more people in new markets around the world. The pandemic has shown that even at the darkest moments, more people want to experience Pret and I'm looking forward to working with A&W and seeing how Canadians take to the great taste of Pret."

Revenues at Pret dropped 58% to £299m in 2020, compared to £708m in 2019. However, the company said sales were recovering as more people headed back into the office, with central London locations reaching 72% of pre-pandemic weekly sales.

In September the company announced it was giving a 5% pay rise to all staff working in its UK shops from October to boost recruitment as it looked to expand, increasing the starting rate to £9.40 per hour.

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