Yahoo Finance Pret A Manger to open at more service stations following Roadchef deal
Sandwich and coffee chain Pret A Manger will open more stores at motorway service stations after striking a deal with Roadchef.
The chain will open at Chester services on the M56 before Christmas and at Clacket Lane West on the M25 in the spring.
Motorway service stations have been increasingly attracting a larger number of brands with the likes of Marks & Spencer, Starbucks and Costa Coffee regular fixtures. The latter two are actively targeting service stations for drive-thru sites as part of their expansion plans as trading on the high street becomes tougher.
Pret said it already had one motorway service station shop at Welcome Break’s South Mimms site in Potters Bar, but the deal with Roadchef, which owns 30 sites, would enable it to expand on this. The company said the performance of the two Roadchef sites would be evaluated before new locations were added.
Clive Schlee, chief executive of Pret, said the format would remain the same, with its on-site kitchens preparing food daily and a pledge to identify charities to donate its unsold food to in the areas around Chester and Clacket Lane services.
Pret, which opened in London in 1986, has roughly 500 shops in seven countries and is owned by private equity house Bridgepoint, which is understood to be considering a stockmarket flotation in the US.
