Show Notes
Pret a Manger CEO Pano Christou on why Pret is so expensive, Service Culture, and Creating Jobs
Join our Slack channel, for students only:
https://form.typeform.com/to/CdBAfNrp
You’ll get to shadow the team digitally + learn how we put the show together - how we find guests, do research + come up with up with topics.
-------
Pret CEO Pano Christou recounts his 26-year rise from assistant manager to CEO at 41, including a short Harvard exec MBA that boosted his confidence after rapid promotion.
He explains Pret’s management approach: short meetings, pre-reads, early-morning reflection, empowering smart teams, and a weekly mystery-shopper system that can trigger a 10% weekly bonus for all store staff based on service, speed, availability, and cleanliness.
He discusses COVID’s disruption via hybrid working and Pret’s response through coffee subscriptions, delivery, and value initiatives like “Pick Your Pair” for £4.99 and 99p filter coffee.
Addressing “why Pret is expensive,” he cites 2022–23 inflation (food inflation peaking around 20%), refusing shrinkflation, and then limiting price rises for about three years. He highlights expansion plans to open 100 UK stores, inclusive hiring (NEETs and people facing homelessness), training, pay (around £15/hour for baristas), and policy asks on VAT and national insurance support.
Chapters
00:00 Why Pret Costs More 00:48 Panos Pret Journey 04:05 Fast Track To CEO 05:46 Leadership Mindset Shifts 12:35 Unusual CEO Habits 14:40 Post Covid Business Model 17:05 Value Deals And Pricing 21:05 Service Culture Joy 22:58 Hiring Growth And Homelessness 28:16 Behind The Counter 30:32 Pay Bonuses And Training 34:20 Menu Trends And Hiring 38:00 Government And VAT 40:54 Quickfire And Wrap Up
********** Got an idea for our next episode? Drop us a line at [email protected]
Follow us on socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjobs Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmysjobsofthefuture Twitter / X: https://www.twitter.com/JimmyM Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-mcloughlin-obe/
Sponsor the show or Partner with us: [email protected]
Check out our clips channel here! ⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@JimmysJobsClips
Credits: Host / Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE Producer: Thuy Dong Editor: Rhodri Beynon Social Producer: Alex Kularatnam Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More from Jimmy's Jobs of the Future
Octopus Energy’s Greg Jackson on Agile Tariffs, Standing Charges, and the Future of Electrification
If AI can write code, why are companies hiring more software developers? And why are people starting their careers still struggling to get in?Financial Times columnist and chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch joins Jimmy to unpack what the data actually tells us about AI, work and opportunity. Hiring for experienced software workers is recovering, while opportunities for new graduates remain flat. If AI can handle the tasks juniors once learned on, how do they gain the experience employers want?John explains why human judgement could become more valuable, how AI-generated applications could push recruitment back towards personal connections, and why predictions of mass unemployment may miss the bottlenecks that still require people.They also explore the forces making it harder to build an adult life: housing pressures, fewer young people forming relationships, falling birth rates and the appeal of better-paid work abroad.In this episode:00:00 AI layoffs reality check01:54 Where job losses show up03:42 Rate hikes vs AI effects05:47 Software jobs rebound06:36 Decide execute deliver08:55 Why juniors still matter11:48 Trainee pipeline dilemma13:42 Networks and meritocracy16:26 Recruitment goes old school18:17 Hiring at the FT20:14 Journalism identity shift24:13 Job titles and personal brand27:33 Computer science enrollment dip30:46 Deep knowledge beats tasks35:48 Jevons paradox and training37:34 AI and non AI assessments39:36 Bottlenecks and productivity41:07 AI Bottlenecks Need Humans42:58 Birth Rates Falling Everywhere45:09 Housing And Digital Media48:53 Social Media Gender Divide51:24 Dating Apps And Work Ties53:37 Why Low Birth Rates Matter57:40 UK Centralization And Housing59:05 Broken Jobs Data Problem01:03:15 UK Emigration And Pay Gaps01:07:58 Fixing Britains Growth Story01:09:18 UK Role In Global AI01:12:04 Will AI Cause Unemployment01:13:39 Iced Coffee Interview Debate01:15:09 Pink Socks And Dress Codes01:17:48 Favorite Chart And Wrap UpSubscribe to Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future for more conversations about work, technology and the changing economy.********** Got an idea for our next episode? Drop us a line at [email protected]
Football, Power and Shirts: On China, FIFA and Fields of Power
Jimmy interviews author Dan Wang about his book "Breakneck" and why the UK and other Western societies struggle to build infrastructure, contrasting Britain’s strengths in “sounding clever” industries (universities, finance, media) with weak construction capacity and rule-bound governance that stalls projects.
Jimmy visits Gravity Industries in Somerset to meet founder Richard Browning, the inventor behind the real-life jet suit.