Pret sale is just grand for staff

Workers get £1k each as firm sells for £1.5bn

SOME 12,000 Pret A Manger staff will be handed a £1,000 windfall as the sandwich chain is sold to German billionaires.

The company has 530 stores across the globe including 381 in the UK and has been sold by private equity group Bridgepoint to Krispy Kreme owner JAB for £1.5billion.

The chief executive of Pret a Manger took to Twitter to tell staff about their unexpected bonus.

Clive Schlee tweeted: “Today is a big day for Pret. As we welcome JAB, we’ll be thanking the people who really matter by giving each of our 12,000 employees £1,000 when the deal completes.”

Even new employees will be able to cash in. Mr Schlee told the Mirror: “The £1,000 bonus will be paid to all employees who are on the payroll during the week the deal completes.

“It’s serendipity for those who have just joined.”

But the £12m handout to staff represents just a fraction of the profit Bridgepoint will make on the Pret deal.

It splashed out £364m for the chain in 2008 which means that in just a decade it will trouser a tidy profit on the business of £1.124bn.

Pret A Manger opened its first branch in 1986 and now serves 300,000 customers a day. It generated revenues of £879m last year through branches in the US, Hong Kong, France, China, Dubai, Denmark, Singapore and the Netherlands, as well as the UK. New owner JAB – which also owns Kenco coffee and Dr Pepper – is the investment vehicle of a wealthy German family. Olivier Goudet, chief executive, said: “We look forward to working with Clive Schlee and his management team, while promoting the Pret brand and supporting Pret’s impressive culture for the next phase in the company’s growth with JAB.”