Pret a Manger

I'm working in Leeds on a project for the NHS, and have gotten into the ultra-healthy lunch phenomenon because of the Pret a Manger here. I thought to talk about the experiences I've had.

Every time I walk into a Pret, the ambience feels healthy. Everything seems to have a large intimate, comfortable, teddy bear feel to it. Things that can be heard and seen include Miso Soup is so healthy it's unreal or We think you'll like it so much that if you don't you can have it free are striking. The people are excessively friendly, and unlike the majority of shop assistants in England, are not blase teenagers, their eyes speak volumes about how much they like their work. Families with kids can be found at Pret, encouraging them to eat healthy, which can only be good given our health problems. The place is jammed full, both for eat-in and takeaways every time I've been there. On Thursday, I forgot to pickup a doughnut, went back, and the lovely girl gave me 2 doughnuts (healthy ones! ;)). I thought to do some research and pulled out the following information from pretamanger.com.

• The two founders created a single store on the basis that the food they wanted was nowhere.
• There are no franchises. Damn! I would love to buy into the Pret concept. Similarly, no investment opportunities!
• They recruit happy people from many backgrounds who like food - specifically!
• They also pay their staff as much as they can afford, not as much as they can get away with

Pret is the Google of the food industry. It's as simple as that. I felt it was so refreshing that there is a business out there where the founders provide a really great service and shareholders, growth or returns are simply not on the agenda. These people genuinely seem to love food, and love selling it. A good profit will naturally follow. We live in an age when the public can talk with their own two feet by choosing where to spend lunch money. The most intelligent businesses fill the gap that we all wish for, and prosper based simply on their ideals. I love Pret, it's not very expensive, and my lunch in the past week has been so healthy that my skin's glowing and I feel almost 100%. Occasionally eating like a lardarse is okay (fryups come to mind!), but it's a false temptation. Go Pret a Manger - you guys rock!

In terms of petty critique, this is what I would say about the Pret layout and in-store concepts:

• The amount of time people spend selecting their sandwiches can be accelerated in various ways, which I won't bore you with here. The result will be less pushing around as everyone wants to look at the fridge shelves.


• An optional payment system online using credit cards would save the hassle of messing with credit cards and change. A solid loyalty scheme would be great too. Providing PayAsYouGo Pret sounds cheap, but it's actually useful!


• It's clearly a place for social networking - so a dating service might go down quite nicely, given the crowd ;)


• The concept should be extended into a proper, distinct offering for dinner.


• I thought I'd never say this - but the place does have a non-mainstream ponciness about it, which prevents many people from dabbling into what could be perceived as a food bar that is reserved for socialites or the pretentious types. It would be so much better, if perception was toughened up.

So only one thing remains - do they have a job at HQ for clued up IT people like me? Here's to hoping.

In other news, I'm a few weeks away from introducing My Quotations at quotationsbook.com. You will not only be able to save your favourite famous quotes, but write and share your own.

Posted by amitkoth at September 4, 2005 02:29 PM | TrackBack