Pret a Manger

Pret a Manger (/ˈprɛt ə ˈmɒ̃ʒeɪ/; French for "ready to eat") is a British multinational sandwich shop chain founded in London, England in 1983. It is popularly referred to simply as Pret. As of September 2025, Pret had 717 locations across 19 countries and territories, including 474 in the UK (369 of which were in London) and 67 in the United States. Pret a Manger has additional locations in Belgium, Canada, France, UAE, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa and Switzerland.

Jeffrey Hyman founded the first Pret a Manger in London on 21 October 1983. The first shop opened in Hampstead, Camden, in 1984. The name Prêt à Manger was originally based on prêt-à-porter, French for "ready-to-wear clothing".

Beginning in June 1983, the company traded at 58 Hampstead High Street for 18 months, during which time takings fell below the point of breaking-even, forcing the company into liquidation. Both the name and visual branding were purchased from liquidator David Rubin by two university friends, Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe.

Beecham and Metcalfe started a new operation, using the Pret a Manger name purchased from the former company's liquidator. They opened their first Pret a Manger in July 1986, located at 75b Victoria Street in London. They developed the chain's menu of handmade natural food, prepared in shop kitchens, and remained significant shareholders.

In 1995, Metcalfe and Beecham set up The Pret Foundation, to help alleviate poverty in the UK. The Pret Foundation received donations from collection boxes in shops, funding a fleet of electric vans that deliver unsold food to homeless shelters at the end of each day, including FareShare, The Felix Project and City Harvest. The Pret Foundation has awarded over £7 million to over 100 charities across the UK, tackling homelessness, hunger and poverty.

The first shop outside London was opened on Broad Street, New York, in 2000, and by 2016, there were 74 Pret shops across the United States. In 2001, McDonald's bought a 33% non-controlling stake in the company, which they sold in 2008 to the private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital.

In 2008, Pret a Manger's charitable foundation, The Pret Foundation, launched its "Rising Stars" programme, which supports people at risk of homelessness, including former prisoners and refugees, with sustainable employment in Pret shops, training, free travel, gift-cards to buy new clothes and peer-to-peer weekly support groups. As of 2022, over 600 people have joined Rising Stars, with 80% completing the 12-week programme. Some "Rising Stars" have gone on to become shop managers, or have been recruited to Pret's head office in London, known as "75B". 50p from every sandwich on its Christmas menu, 50p from Pret's "Hog Roast Mac n Cheese" and 10p from every soup goes to The Pret Foundation.

Pret a Manger opened its first shop in France in 2012 and had 51 shops in France by 2022.