Pret to reopen 204 more branches for takeaway and delivery from Monday
PRET A MANGER is reopening a further 204 shops for takeaway and delivery on Monday June 1, it was revealed today.
The sandwich chain says the move will see Pret shops reopen for the first time since lockdown began on March 23 across towns and cities including Bath, Bournemouth, Exeter, Liverpool and Newcastle.
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It brings the total number of reopened Pret shops in the UK to over 300. Pret has gradually reopened stores since April 16, and currently 101 of its 500-plus stores across the UK are open.
See for a list of the 101 stores already reopened, and a list of the 204 stores set to reopen from June 1.
Shops will be open for customers to buy takeaway items from, while home delivery through Deliveroo, Just Eat and UberEats will also be available at selected stores.
Check these sites to see if your local store is signed up - just be aware that all these services charge delivery fees depending on the retailer and how far you live from the takeaway store.
We found Just Eat, for example, was charging between £2.50 and £3 for some Pret takeaways.
Where is Pret reopening?
PRET stores are reopening from June 1 in the following cities and towns across the UK:
- Bath
- Birmingham
- Bournemouth
- Brighton
- Cambridge
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Edinburgh
- Exeter
- Glasgow
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- London
- Manchester
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Oxford
- Reading
- St Andrews
- Stains, Surrey
- Warwick
- Watford
- West Sussex
- Winchester
- Windsor
- York
See for the 101 stores already reopened, and a list of the 204 stores set to reopen from June 1.
Sites may also set minimum order thresholds or charge an additional fee for small orders so be aware of these too.
Pret is offering a limited menu at its reopened stores which includes its most popular sandwiches, salads, and baguettes, as well as hot and cold drinks, bakery items, fruit, and snacks.
Items on the revised menu include the classic super club sandwich, posh cheddar and pickle baguette, tuna mayo and cucumber baguette, and chef’s Italian chicken salad.
You'll also be able to buy Pret meals to eat at home with its new "Heat Me at Home" range, which includes macaroni cheese, mushroom risotto soup, chicken and butternut risotto soup, and pea and mint soup.
And if you can't get down to your nearby store, you can now order Pret's coffee beans from Amazon as well as buy them in store.
Reopened shops will have new coronavirus safety measures in place including perspex screens fitted to counters, restrictions on the number of shoppers in stores, which will depend on the store size, and social distancing restrictions in kitchens.
There will also be strict cleaning processes in place, including cleaning surfaces people touch every half an hour.
Pano Christou, chief executive of Pret said: "We’re rapidly transforming our business in light of the pandemic and the dramatic drop in city centre footfall.
"The changes we’ve been making include new ways to serve customers and bring Pret’s products to our customers’ homes safely."
Restaurants have been allowed to continue trading for deliveries and takeaways throughout lockdown, but many of the biggest high street chains stopped taking orders while they worked out how to safely operate.
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But the past few weeks has seen hundreds slowly begin to reopen - see our full list of the food chains and businesses open now including McDonald’s and Dunelm.
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Some pubs are even offering takeaways, such as Greene King which has launched a new pub grub food delivery and click and collect trial.
The government has, however, already warned that pubs - along with hairdressers, cinemas and restaurants - won't be able to fully reopen until at least July 4.