Pret a Manger is making changes in the face of COVID-19.
This morning, infamous high-street giant Pret a Manger announced that they will be offering free hot drinks and 50% of all food, across their 530 UK venues, for NHS workers.
The NHS is heavily strained following the outbreak and global spread of the coronavirus. Several UK medical schools have been urged to waver clinical exams for final-year medical students, fast-tracking them to be registered as doctors, in order to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
Additionally, Pret a Manger will also continue to donate surplus food to the homeless at the end of each day. Homeless people are one of the vulnerable groups in our society more widely at risk of the virus. Recently, a number of homeless day services were forced to close, due to concern about the spread of the coronavirus.
Effective as of today, Pret a Manger will switch to an exclusively takeaway format. Customers will no longer be able to eat or drink inside the establishments, but they will continue to deliver via Deliveroo.
In a statement issued today, Pret a Manger stated it’s key priority is, ‘to try to reduce points of contact in shops and to miniimse [sic] the time it takes for people to get the food they need and leave safely and quickly.’