Exclusive – Pret to give 5% pay rise to its 6,200 shop staff: Pret A Manger, the JAB Holdings-backed business, is to give its circa 6,200 shop staff a 5% pay increase from next month, Propel has learned. In an internal email from Pret’s UK managing director Clare Clough, seen by Propel, the company is awarding a 5% pay increase across all its shop roles from team member to group manager. The move will see the brand’s starting rate move to £9.40. In the email, Clough said: “As we all know, the past 18 months have been an incredibly challenging time for Pret and I know that you, our shop teams, have felt this more than anyone. But this week is a big milestone in our recovery, giving us the chance to invest back in you and our shop teams. The fact we have reached this milestone is a reflection of the service you have given during what has been the most difficult time in Pret’s history. I cannot thank you enough for your efforts. We always said we would take the chance to invest back into pay and benefits as soon as our recovery was on a sustainable footing. So I am really pleased to share with you today we are now in a position to award a 5% pay increase across all our shop roles from team member to group manager. This moves our starting rate to £9.40. As you know, unlike a lot of other businesses, Pret also offers a much wider package of benefits for our teams in shops. So, when you add in the return of the £1 mystery shopper bonus, together with our free food allowance while on shift, I am proud we are now able to reward our teams with a package of pay and benefits that’s one of the highest in our sector, in the same way we were able to before the pandemic hit.” Clough added: “Now, as we move forward with our recovery, our goal over the next few years is to significantly grow our business and create jobs for thousands more team members to work in hundreds more Pret shops across the UK. I am certain this growth will provide many more fantastic opportunities for our teams to develop their careers in Pret. We are still on the road to recovery but I’m so pleased we’re now able to take this step.” Propel understands details of all the pay changes will follow next week and will be live from October. It is also thought Pret will review its pay again in April 2022. More than 85% of Pret’s managers are promoted from within the business. Earlier this week, Pret chief executive Pano Christou reported employees returning to offices last week drove a 15% sales uplift in city centres in just seven days. He said the first full week after the school holidays had been the “acid test” to gauge the scale of workers returning to areas such as the City of London after a switch to remote working over the pandemic. Christou told the Mail on Sunday that sales in city centres had now returned to about 80% of pre-pandemic levels. Christou said he had also seen a “significant step up” at Pret's airport shops after travel restrictions for vaccinated passengers were eased. He said: “Things have really continued to build since ‘Freedom Day’ in July. We are optimistic and confident this demand will continue to build throughout the rest of the year.” Earlier this week, Itsu, the healthy Asian food chain created by Julian Metcalfe, announced it was increasing the hourly wage for entry-level team members by 11% to a minimum of £10.40 an hour. Meanwhile, Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group said it was to put up chef wages in areas hardest-hit by the hospitality sector’s ongoing labour shortage. Last week, Costa Coffee announced it would give all 14,500 of its store team members in UK company-owned stores a 5% pay increase in recognition of their “commitment and continued passion during the difficult times presented by the covid-19 pandemic”.