Pret a Manger has become the latest high street chain to slash jobs after it cut 2,800 store roles as part of a major restructure.
The coffee and sandwich chain has said more staff will be affected by its cost-saving shake-up than first thought, after suggesting in July that 1,000 jobs would be at risk.
Pret said that although there have been “clear signs of recovery” in footfall since the lockdown was eased, trade across its shops is still around 60% down year-on-year.
The reduction in staff numbers has been driven by “shorter opening hours, lower transaction levels, and the losses faced by the business in 2020”, it said.
Alongside the reduction in shop staff, a further 90 roles have been cut in the company’s support centre teams.
Around 1,000 other roles at the business have been preserved after staff members agreed to move to a lower level of minimum weekly hours.
These are the branches of Pret closing down
Greater London:
- St George University Kiosk
- 421 Strand
- Heathrow Terminal 3
- 109 Fleet Street
- Strutton Ground, Westminster
- Centre Point, Tottenham Court Road,
- Warwick Way
- Byward Street
- The Cut, Southwark
- 41 Piccadilly
- Wood Sreet, Barbican
Outside London:
- Worcester, 59 High Street
- Nottingham, Albert Street
- Cambridge, Lion Yard
- Sheffield, Fargate
- Uxbridge, High Street
- Reading, Broad Street
- High Wycombe
- Gateshead Metrocentre
- Peterborough, Queensgate Centre
- Edinburgh, Shandwick Place
- Chichester, East Street
- Glasgow Fort shopping centre
- Leicester, Gallowtree Gate
- Shrewsbury
- Lakeside, Essex
- Cardiff, Capitol Centre
- Newcastle, Grainger Street
- Stratford-upon-Avon
- Norwich, Chapelfield
Last week, more than 7,700 major job losses were announced at big British employers.
It comes as the Office for National Statistics said 730,000 people have been taken off payrolls since the beginning of the crisis in March.
Here is a list of some of the major British employers that have announced major job cuts since the start of the lockdown.
Major potential job losses announced since March 23:
Total: 182,343
August 27 – Pret a Manger – 2,800 (includes 1,000 announced on July 6)
August 26 – Gatwick Airport – 600
August 25 – Co-operative Bank – 350
August 20 – Alexander Dennis – 650
August 18 – Bombardier – 95
August 18 – Marks & Spencer – 7,000
August 14 – Yo! Sushi – 250
August 14 – River Island – 350
August 12 – NatWest – 550
August 11 – InterContinental Hotels – 650 worldwide
August 11 – Debenhams – 2,500
August 7 – Evening Standard – 115
August 6 – Travelex – 1,300
August 6 – Wetherspoons – 110 to 130
August 5 – M&Co – 380
August 5 – Arsenal FC – 55
August 5 – WH Smith – 1,500
August 4 – Dixons Carphone – 800
August 4 – Pizza Express – 1,100 at risk
August 3 – Hays Travel – up to 878
August 3 – DW Sports – 1,700 at risk
July 31 – Byron – 651
July 30 – Pendragon – 1,800
July 29 – Waterstones – unknown number of head office roles
July 28 – Selfridges – 450
July 27 – Oak Furnitureland – 163 at risk
July 23 – Dyson – 600 in UK, 300 overseas
July 22 – Mears – fewer than 200
July 20 – Marks & Spencer – 950 at risk
July 17 – Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) – up to 1,200
July 16 – Genting – 1,642 at risk
July 16 – Burberry – 150 in UK, 350 overseas
July 15 – Banks Mining – 250 at risk
July 15 – Buzz Bingo – 573 at risk
July 14 – Vertu – 345
July 14 – DFS – up to 200 at risk
July 9 – General Electric – 369
July 9 – Eurostar – unknown number
July 9 – Boots – 4,000
July 9 – John Lewis – 1,300 at risk
July 9 – Burger King – 1,600 at risk
July 7 – Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) – 550
July 6 – Pret a Manger – 1,000 at risk
July 2 – Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) – 1,909
July 1 – SSP (owns Upper Crust) – 5,000 at risk
July 1 – Arcadia (owns TopShop) – 500
July 1 – Harrods – 700
July 1 – Virgin Money – 300
June 30 – Airbus – 1,700
June 30 – TM Lewin – 600
June 30 – Smiths Group – “some job losses”
June 25 – Royal Mail – 2,000
June 24 – Jet2 – 102
June 24 – Swissport – 4,556
June 24 – Crest Nicholson – 130
June 23 – Shoe Zone – unknown number of jobs in head office
June 19 – Aer Lingus – 500
June 17 – HSBC – unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide
June 15 – Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100
June 15 – Travis Perkins – 2,500
June 12 – Le Pain Quotidien – 200
June 11 – Heathrow – at least 500
June 11 – Bombardier – 600
June 11 – Johnson Matthey – 2,500
June 11 – Centrica – 5,000
June 10 – Quiz – 93
June 10 – The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny’s) – 3,000
June 10 – Monsoon Accessorise – 545
June 10 – Everest Windows – 188
June 8 – BP – 10,000 worldwide
June 8 – Mulberry – 375
June 5 – Victoria’s Secret – 800 at risk
June 5 – Bentley – 1,000
June 4 – Aston Martin – 500
June 4 – Lookers – 1,500
May 29 – Belfast International Airport – 45
May 28 – Debenhams (in second announcement) – “hundreds” of jobs
May 28 – EasyJet – 4,500 worldwide
May 26 – McLaren – 1,200
May 22 – Carluccio’s – 1,000
May 21 – Clarks – 900
May 20 – Rolls-Royce – 9,000
May 20 – Bovis Homes – unknown number
May 19 – Ovo Energy – 2,600
May 19 – Antler – 164
May 15 – JCB – 950 at risk
May 13 – Tui – 8,000 worldwide
May 12 – Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) – 450
May 11 – P&O Ferries – 1,100 worldwide
May 5 – Virgin Atlantic – 3,150
May 1 – Ryanair – 3,000 worldwide
April 30 – Oasis Warehouse – 1,800
April 29 – WPP – unknown number
April 28 – British Airways – 12,000
April 23 – Safran Seats – 400
April 23 – Meggitt – 1,800 worldwide
April 21 – Cath Kidston – 900
April 17 – Debenhams – 422
March 31 – Laura Ashley – 268
March 30 – BrightHouse – 2,400 at risk
March 27 – Chiquito – 1,500 at risk.