Global growth drives Pret A Manger gross sales to £1bn

Pret A Manger global sales jumped to above £1billion last year as it pursued international expansion.

The UK-based coffee and sandwich chain said £1 in every £4 spent by customers now came from outside the UK as sales shot up 22 per cent in 2023.

A total of 81 shops opened up abroad including in India and Canada, as well as in Greece and Spain.

Sales boost: Pret A Manger said £1 in every £4 spent by customers now came from outside the UK as sales shot up 22% in 2023

Privately-owned Pret said it had opened more shops in 2023 than any year in its history, including 15 shops in India. 

These stores have helped the group, founded by Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham in 1986, to double in size, three years ahead of its target. And profits jumped 12 per cent to £166million last year. 

Pret A Manger chief executive Pano Christou said: ‘We set ourselves some tough targets to get Pret going again after the pandemic, and we have delivered.

‘The fact that £1 in every £4 is now spent outside the UK is both an achievement and an opportunity for our business.

‘It shows how big the appetite is from customers all over the world for Pret’s menu. Looking to the future, our recipe for success is to focus on doing what Pret does best: creating delicious, freshly made food for our customers, only using the high-quality ingredients that we’re proud to have in our kitchens.’ 

He said it had been investing more into new recipes – such as bespoke soya and coconut satay and shawarma sauces.

Some 87 per cent of openings have been outside London since January 2023.

Many office workers in the UK and beyond continue to spend part of the week at home, which is hitting demand in Pret’s city and town centre outlets.

Since the pandemic, the business has been expanding into other areas, such as suburbia, that are not as dependent on white collar workers. But there are signs of this customer base returning to their office hubs. 

And New York is now Pret’s overseas capital, having the highest sales after London. The company signed a deal with a new franchise partner, Dallas International, in February. This has helped to fast track growth across the US, with ten shops planned on the East Coast by 2026.

Six shops across Scotland will open in the medium term. But sales growth has slowed over the first half of 2024, from 3 per cent compared to 15 per cent last year.

Clive Black, an analyst at investment group Shore Capital, said the update was ‘no doubt seeking [to] raise awareness that the firm is alive & kicking, maybe ahead of some wider capital event or organisation change, let’s see.’

Pret operates more than 690 shops and employs around 12,500 people globally. It has a 9,000-strong workforce in the UK.