Pret sandwich sales in the Square Mile surge as City workers return to desks
Two in three City workers were back at their desks last week, as Pret A Manger coffee and sandwich sales edge closer to pre-pandemic levels.
According to the latest data from Bloomberg’s Pret Index, the coffee chain’s sales transactions hit 68 per cent of pre-Covid levels in the City and Canary Wharf.
This marks the highest figure in nearly two months and a 10 per cent rise on the week prior.
Workers have returned to London’s financial districts after the government’s instruction to work-from-home expired last week.
The sandwich chain hopes to see sales hit 90 per cent of 2019 levels on mid-week days in the coming weeks, Pret’s chief executive officer Pano Christou told Bloomberg.
Christou said: “You could see those levels of 90 per cent plus Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I think on Monday and Friday, those levels will be lower.”
Hybrid workers tend to work from home on Mondays and Fridays, while the middle of the week is busier in the Square Mile.
Elsewhere, sales in the West End have also surged, hitting 93 per cent of pre-pandemic levels last week.
On Monday, more than two million journeys were made on the London Underground, at 54 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. This was a nine per cent jump week-on-week, according to Transport for London.
Many people embarked on their commute for the first time since the government introduced measures to tackle the Omicron Covid variant at the end of last year.
On buses, 4.41m journeys were made, marking 74 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and four per cent higher than the previous week.