Pret sales rise above pre-pandemic levels

The sandwich chain’s total transaction volume in UK clusters tracked by Bloomberg’s Pret Index​​ - including London’s financial districts, airports and West End shopping district, as well as regional towns, northern counties and Scotland - was higher last week than in January 2020. 

Not all UK clusters are recovering equally, however.

Sales in London’s suburbs, for example, are the strongest in the metropolitan area after customers moved there in search of more space for home-working.

In the City of London and Canary Wharf financial hubs, meanwhile, sales remain slightly below the pre-Covid level as companies and banks allow employees to spend fewer days in the office.

“On average around the country, we’re back at the level of business we were at before the pandemic hit.”

“But we know we need to keep pushing in London’s business districts and constantly think about new ways to grow our business in those crucial markets.”

The results follow Pret's recent announcement that it intends to open 200 new UK sites in the next two years​​ as part of an aim to double the size of its estate within five years.

Under the plans, the group will target regional and suburban areas, transport hubs and motorway service stations, with around 100 sites expected to open under franchise.

Pret became somewhat symbolic of the financial pain suffered by high-street operators during the Coronavirus pandemic. Last summer the chain said the impact of the pandemic had set sales back 10 years, with trade across its 367 high street sites down 60% year on year.

The group closed 36 of its sites as a result of the downturn, with more than 3,000 employees made redundant.